Tolentino: PDP asked me to resign for opposing China-only talks

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — The real reason he was asked by the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) to resign from the party was because he did not believe in engaging solely with the Chinese government regarding maritime law discussions, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said on Wednesday.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Tolentino was asked about observations from netizens that he bolted from the PDP — the party headed by former president Rodrigo Duterte — because he was against China’s intrusion into the Philippines.

Duterte, on the other hand, has advocated during his time for friendly ties with China.

“I think it was Senator [Robinhood] Padilla who talked about that. That’s the real reason why I left the PDP. I said we cannot just talk with China. We’re talking about the law of the sea. Under the law of the sea, 185 countries signed. Why would you only talk to China?” Tolentino said in a mix of Filipino and English, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

“Burma, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan also signed this, right? The United Kingdom, too. Then talk to all of these countries. That’s why they asked me to resign, because I want to talk to everyone,” he added.

According to Tolentino, if the current administration went on with the direction of the past — when discussions were largely focused on bilateral talks with China — the Philippines would have had a hard time engaging with other countries like Japan.

Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is currently in Manila for a two-day official visit, during which the Japanese leader and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. renewed a commitment to push back against foreign aggression and uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

READ: PH, Japan reaffirm security alliance 

“Look, if we will just talk with China, we cannot talk with Japan, Australia, or New Zealand. We should talk to the whole world,” he said.

Tolentino said it is perplexing to continue talking with a country whose leaders do not respect Philippine sovereignty.

“They are all supportive of the measures undertaken to protect the West Philippine Sea — Italy, all of them, France. Our next reciprocal access agreements will be with France and Germany,” he said.

“Why would we talk to just a single country when that country wants to grab our seas, territory. Why would we talk to them? They are infringing on our sovereignty. Then we will talk to them? I think that’s nonsense. That’s why I told them, I resign,” he added.

Weeks after Sen. Francis Escudero was elected Senate president in May 2024, Tolentino was also voted to be the chamber’s majority leader. This development prompted PDP president and Sen. Robinhood Padilla to ask Tolentino to resign as party vice president for Luzon and party member so he could attend to his additional duties.

READ: Padilla urges Tolentino to resign from PDP due to new Senate role 

Tolentino eventually resigned, but he said the reason was a difference in foreign policy directions over the disputed West Philippine Sea.

READ: Tolentino leaves PDP, cites differences in West PH Sea policy 

Tolentino’s committee, the Senate special committee on Philippine maritime and admiralty zones, recently led a hearing that revealed China’s alleged attempt to interfere in the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.

During the discussions last April 24, Tolentino asked National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya if any indicators were showing foreign interference in the 2025 elections.

Malaya then replied that there are indications that “information operations are being conducted or that Chinese state-sponsored groups in the Philippines are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections.”

READ: China interfering with PH’s May 2025 polls, says NSC’s Malaya 

But aside from interfering in the Philippine elections, it was also revealed during the Senate hearing that China, through its embassy in Manila, allegedly paid for a “troll farm” under a contract with a private company to discredit the Philippine government and anti-China Filipino personalities.

Tolentino said a “service agreement” between the Chinese embassy and InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. in August 2023 included the provision of “keyboard warriors that will play a vital role in the overall effectiveness of the issue management project.”

According to Tolentino, InfinitUs was allegedly contracted to spread pro-Beijing narratives and fake news campaigns targeting lawmakers who support the Philippines’ claims over the West Philippine Sea.