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Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte says goodbye to successor President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr after the departure honors at the Malacanang Palace on June 30, 2022. King Rodriguez, Presidential Photo

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Marcos Duterte

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171271996435620220630-duterte-departure-honors-MNIB-65.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span contenteditable="true" id="isPasted">Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte says goodbye to successor President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr after the departure honors at the Malacanang Palace on June 30, 2022. <em>King Rodriguez, Presidential Photo</em></span></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday said he was &quot;horrified&quot; by the alleged &quot;gentleman&#x27;s agreement&quot; between his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the West Philippine Sea.</p><p>“I am horrified at the idea that we have compromised through a secret agreement the territory, sovereignty, and sovereign rights of the Philippines,&quot; said Marcos, who addressed the issue for the first time.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/27/duterte-nagka-gentleman-s-agreement-sa-china-tungkol-sa-west-ph-sea-roque-1836" id="isPasted">READ: Duterte nagka-&#x27;gentleman&#x27;s agreement&#x27; sa China tungkol sa West PH Sea: Roque</a></div><p>China has been repeatedly citing the alleged deal to put the blame on the Philippines over the worsening tension in the West Philippine Sea.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/4/beijing-claims-ph-making-propaganda-trap-vs-china-2142">READ: Beijing claims PH making propaganda trap vs China</a></div><p>Marcos said he was not &quot;briefed&quot; by the officials of the former administration regarding the alleged agreement.</p><p>&quot;We don&#x27;t know anything about it. There was no documentation, there was no record. We were not briefed about when I came into office, walang nagsabi sa amin na merong ganong usapan (no one told us there was such deal),&quot; Marcos said. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/8/ph-doing-everything-possible-to-ease-tension-with-china-marcos-1324" id="isPasted">READ: Philippines &#x27;doing everything possible&#x27; to ease tension with China: Marcos</a></div><p>Former Palace spokesman Harry Roque had revealed that Duterte and Xi had agreed to keep the &quot;status quo&quot; in the Ayungin Shoal, where the aging BRP Sierra Madre is located.</p><p>But other former officials had denied Roque&#x27;s claim, with former Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo saying Duterte himself said there was no such deal.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/5/panelo-denies-gentleman-s-agreement-between-duterte-xi-1356">READ: Panelo denies &#x27;gentleman&#x27;s agreement&#x27; between Duterte, Xi</a></div><p>Marcos said he would summon Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to explain to him the details of the alleged deal.</p><p>&quot;Siguro pagbalik na. Ipaliwanag niya, sino ba ang kausap mo, sino ba talaga, anong pinag-agreehan nyo. Was it an official thing or personal thing. Walang record kahit saan ka tumungin, so sikretong ginawa lahat ito. Bakit  nila ginawa? Nakakapagtaka. Kaya it&#x27;s not a good situation,&quot; Marcos said.</p><p>(Maybe once we return [from US]. He should explain who he was in talks with. There were no records. They made it secretly. Why did they do it? It&#x27;s puzzling. It&#x27;s not a good situation.)</p><p>The President said they have been in talks with former Duterte officials but not the former president himself.</p><p>&quot;We were talking to his former officials. Ipaliwanag niyo sa amin para alam namin ang ginagawa namin (explain it to us so we&#x27;ll know what to do),&quot; he said.</p><p>Sen. Risa Hontiveros has sought a Senate investigation into the alleged &quot;gentleman&#x27;s agreement. She said if the deal was confirmed to be true, it &quot;would be tantamount to a surrender of Philippine sovereignty.&quot;</p><p>Roque recently said there was nothing secret about the deal. </p><p>“Ang ebidensya nasa balita lahat. Lahat naman ng sinasabi, nabalita nung 2017 pa. So all you have to do is type &#x27;China Philippines no new development 2017&#x27; lalabas lahat yan. Hindi na nga ako kailangang humarap diyan (Senate probe) eh. Input lang nila sa Google ‘yan lalabas lahat ‘yan,” Roque said in a phone interview. <span style="caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p>“Anong sinasabi nilang sikreto ‘yan. Wala namang sikreto diyan. It was an agreement to maintain status quo and it worked dahil mas mapayapa yung relasyon ng Pilipinas at China nung mga araw na ‘yun,” the lawyer added.</p><p>(Everything was in the news back in 2017. All you have to do is type &#x27;China Philippines no new development 2017&#x27; and everything will pop out. I don&#x27;t need to appear there. They can just input that on Google and everything will come out. What are they saying that it was secret? That was not a secret. It was an <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">agreement to maintain status quo and it worked because the relationship of China and the Philippines then was peaceful.</span>)</p><p>Asked if the supposed Duterte-Xi agreement was binding, Roque said, “Binding on those that are tending to it ‘no, but not binding on subsequent governments.”</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/3/senate-probe-sought-into-treasonous-duterte-china-gentleman-s-agreement-1046">READ: Senate probe sought into &#x27;treasonous&#x27; Duterte-China &#x27;gentleman&#x27;s agreement&#x27;</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NCnJOfwzpFQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said he was "horrified" by the alleged "gentleman's agreement" between his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the West Philippine Sea.</p>

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said he was "horrified" by the alleged "gentleman's agreement" between his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the West Philippine Sea.

Marcos 'horrified' by alleged Duterte-Xi 'secret deal' on West PH Sea

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Marcos 'horrified' by alleged Duterte-Xi 'secret deal' on West PH Sea

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 10, 2024 11:57 AM PHT

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Updated April 10, 2024 10:16 PM PHT

Read More:

Marcos

Duterte

Ferdinand Marcos Jr

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

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gentleman's agreement

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