Hindi ako takot sa China - Duterte

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte again made a statement regarding the Recto bank incident explaining that the incident between the Chinese boat and the Filipino fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea is not an attack on the country’s sovereignty.

It was earlier reported that the President has described the allusion of vessels at Recto bank as “maritime incident”, and that it will not be an enough reason to raise "convoluted argument" over the issue.

"It is not an attack on our sovereignty. Malayo 'yan (That's too far off)," he said in a speech during the oath-taking of Davao City local officials.

Pres. Duterte (photo credit to owner)

Duterte noted that no one died over the incident as he called for an investigation.

"It is not a confrontation of armed men and machines or ships. Wala ngang namatay (No one even died)," he said.

"We consider it a maritime incident at (and) it should be investigated ng mga (by the) Coast Guard," he said.

Detractors of the president has called him Beijing’s lapdog for his soft stance on the Asian superpower's militarization efforts in the disputed South China Sea. 

Since ascending in Malacanang, he has refused to waive the arbitral ruling the country won against China, which calls void China’s nine dash lin claim.

The President clarified that he is not afraid of China but fears the death of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos in the event of war.

"Hindi ako takot sa China. Takot ako na baka walang kalaban, walang kalaban-laban tayo at baka tayo ang maubos," he said.

(I'm not afraid of China. I'm afraid that we might not be able to put up a fight and we might get decimated.)

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 ABS-CBN News