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DFA chief asks Aquino admin: Why leave Scarborough if it was ours?

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/sports/09/15/20200902-duterte-aqaba-process-mnib-8.jpg"/><figcaption>President Rodrigo Duterte discusses matters with Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on Sept. 2, 2020. King Rodriguez, Presidential Photo/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday questioned the previous administration&#x27;s withdrawal nearly a decade ago from Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, which remains a flashpoint in the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing. A Philippine warship in 2012 figured in a standoff in Scarborough with Chinese vessels that blocked efforts to arrest Chinese poachers. The Philippines later withdrew its ship, while Chinese vessels remained there. &quot;If you believe, if your government at that time believes that that is yours, why will you withdraw?&quot; Locsin said in a taped meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte. &quot;Why did we yield possession? That&#x27;s, I think, the first thing you must ask. Who gave the order to withdraw that ship?&quot; Former foreign affairs secretary Albert Del Rosario earlier said the United States brokered a deal to end the 2012 standoff by making China and the Philippines withdraw their ships. However, Beijing &quot;deceitfully breached&quot; the deal, he said. The Chinese ships were in the Philippines&#x27; exclusive economic zone (EEZ), noted Locsin. &quot;What we should have done, I don&#x27;t want to I know better after the fact, but the truth is... I&#x27;ll just look at the other side and say, &#x27;You go, I&#x27;ll go, but you go first,&quot; he said. &quot;Instead our side withdrew, so what happens to our claim that this is ours? Just give it up.&quot; He said the United States, Manila&#x27;s defense ally, had &quot;no obligation&quot; to help, unless the Philippines was attacked. &quot;Nobody was attacked, we withdrew. If the Chinese wanted to attack, there was nobody to attack. The other side left. And I don’t know if they would have attacked,&quot; Locsin said. &quot;They have no intention to do that,&quot; he added, quoting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. If the Philippines &quot;kept up&quot; the standoff, it &quot;might have ended up in just the two sides talking to each other,&quot; he said. Del Rosario after the standoff pursued an arbitral case against China. Shortly after Duterte took office in the 2016, a United Nations-backed court ruled in favor of Manila and junked Beijing&#x27;s sweeping claims to the South China Sea, within which is the smaller West Philippine Sea. Almost a decade after the standoff, Chinese vessels continue to encroach into the Philippines EEZ. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/21/about-200-ships-still-moored-at-west-philippine-sea-firm-says">About 200 ships still moored at West Philippine Sea, geo-analyst says</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/05/21/philippines-rejects-chinese-fishing-ban-west-philippine-sea">Philippines rejects Chinese fishing ban in West Philippine Sea</a></li></ul>Duterte last week likened to a piece of &quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/21/duterte-china-arbitral-ruling-west-philippine-sea" target="_blank">paper</a>&quot; the landmark arbitration award. His spokesman Harry Roque said there is enforcement mechanism that would make Beijing follow the ruling. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/05/06/21/duterte-china-paper-wastebasket">China, not Duterte, will throw away Philippines&#x27; arbitral victory, says Palace</a></li></ul>Del Rosario and retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said Duterte &quot;unfortunately&quot; set aside the arbitration ruling in exchange for up to $24 billion in Chinese investment and aid pledges. LINK: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/30/21/wake-up-duterte-foreign-policy-china-west-philippine-sea Duterte said he &quot;never asked for anything&quot; from China. &quot;I was asking [for] friendship, that was all,&quot; said Duterte. &quot;Kung ako&#x27;y nagsisinungaling, mag-resign ako bukas kaagad,&quot; he added. (If I am lying, I will resign immediately tomorrow.)<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/10/21/duterte-jet-ski-china-joke-stupid">Duterte says his jet ski promise a &#x27;pure joke&#x27; that &#x27;stupid&#x27; people believed</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/10/21/duterte-duwag-carpio-debate-president">Duterte tells Carpio: I&#x27;m not afraid of you, I just forgot you&#x27;re not president</a></li></ul>

MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday questioned the previous administration's withdrawal nearly a decade ago from Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, which remains a flashpoint in the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing.

MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday questioned the previous administration's withdrawal nearly a decade ago from Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, which remains a flashpoint in the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing.

DFA chief asks Aquino admin: Why leave Scarborough if it was ours?

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DFA chief asks Aquino admin: Why leave Scarborough if it was ours?

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 11, 2021 01:13 AM PHT

Read More:

Duterte Aquino

Teddy Locsin

Duterte China

Duterte Carpio

Duterte Del Rosario

Duterte West Philippine Sea South China Sea

West Philippine Sea

sea row

maritime row

defense

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