MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday rejected Vice President Leni Robredo’s call for a multilateral approach in settling the West Philippine Sea issue, saying President Rodrigo Duterte’s bilateral talks with China have been working for years.
Robredo suggested the government include other countries in the maritime dispute talks instead of bilateral talks with China to equalize footing on the matter.
“The President po is the lone architect of foreign policy. Hindi po totoo na hindi gumagana ang ating bilateral approach to the West Philippine Sea kasi matapos po ang halos limang taon na termino ni Presidente, wala po tayong nawalang teritoryo sa Tsina, wala po tayong hidwaan sa Tsina,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online briefing.
(The President is the lone architect of foreign policy. It’s not true that our bilateral approach to the West Philippine Sea is not working because, after nearly five years under the President’s term, we did not lose any territory to China, we don’t have a conflict with China.)
“So I beg to disagree. The President’s policy has been working for the past five years,” he added.
The Philippines and China’s maritime dispute flared anew in March after over 200 vessels were spotted at Julian Felipe Reef.
This has prompted the country to intensify patrols in the West Philippine Sea and even lodge several protests against China’s presence in the area.
While Duterte said he would not withdraw the country’s assets from the disputed waters, he also stated he will not waste the “best relations” of the Philippines with China.