It’s about time the whole nation including those who have been believing
that the Aquino administration is squeaky clean with respect to the West
Philippine Sea (WPS) dispute, to know the truth- the whole truth.
As early as May 2016, then still Davao city mayor Rodrigo Roa
Duterta already called out then President Benigno Aquino “Pnoy” Aquino III,
asking him and senator Antonio Trillanes “How did the Philippines lose
Scarborough Shoal”?
“I would like to know from anybody in the executive department of
the past administration why we lost the Scarborough Shoal,” Duterte said , “I can take all the insults, the muck and garbage that is part
of the territory of politics, but itong ganitong nawalan tayo ng lupa (but to
lose our land), or whatever is under the water is lupa (land), I can’t take
it,” Duterte said.
 |
| Satellite image of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal, which located 124 nautical miles west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. Inset is President Duterte (photo credit to PDI) |
He maintained that the
contested territory “belongs to our exclusive economic zone (EEC).”
“Why is it now that we can no longer operate (there)?” Duterte asks.
Duterte recalled that close Aquino ally – senator Trillanes initiated secret, “back-channel” talks with the Chinese government that could have only put in jeopardy the Philippine interest over the shoal.
“Trillanes went (to China) there 16 times,” Duterte said, “After the 16th
visit, we have lost the Scarborough Shoal,” he added. “To me, it’s treason,” he
said. “Somebody has to answer for that, it means livelihood for the
Philippines, for the Filipinos, our fishermen will be deprived,” he said.
Last May 6, 2016, a complaint lodged by Duterte’s partymates charges of treason and espionage charges against
President Aquino and Trillanes for the conduct of “back-channel talks” with China that allegedly “only
advanced (the) interest of our Asian neighbor.”
“Senator Trillanes met with the Chinese 16 times, and he requested
that the meeting (be) secret. In those meetings, Trillanes (mentioned) that the
Philippines cannot enforce coastal protection. And that made the Chinese take
an aggressive [stance] and take over our areas like Scarborough Shoal and
Spratly Islands. That alone constitutes treason,” former sectoral
Representative Ronald Adamat, who signed as one of the complainants, said.
Duterte’s camp said they had
basis for filing the charges as China committed aggression by occupying the
country’s territories, an act tantamount to waging a war.
“We include the President (Aquino) because Trillanes could not have done this without the order of the President. They breached international policy. They did it without coursing their efforts through the foreign affairs department,” Adamat said.
What can you say about this?
Share
us your thoughts by simply leaving on the comment section below. For more news
updates, feel free to visit our site often.
Stay
updated with today's relevant news and trends by hitting the LIKE button.
Thanks
for dropping by and reading this post.
Report from PDI
0 Comments