Roque: Duterte spoke on the WPS issue through DFA, DND

President Duterte was never really silent on the latest developments at the West Philippine Sea (WPS), especially the massing of Chinese maritime militia vessels at Julian Felipe Reef, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

Roque said the utterances of Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., chair of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, were the President’s.

“Because of the doctrine of qualified political agency, if the President does not disown the utterances of his alter egos, it’s as if he’s the one who had said them. He doesn’t need to speak up,” Roque said.

“He did not renounce them. So those remain official utterances of the highest official of government,” he added, referring to the Chief Executive.

Roque said that Cabinet members also knew about the WPS issue as the President had several times aired his stand on the matter.

“He went on record in the United Nations General Assembly. He said that we will not give away any part of our territory, we believed that the West Philippine Sea dispute should be resolved under UN Convention Law of the Sea and that we stand by the 2016 arbitral decision,” Roque said. INQ