00:00Former Executive Secretary of the Duterte Administration, Defense Secretary of the Aquino Administration,
00:07insisted that there was an agreement with China in 2013,
00:10but when a congressman pointed it out,
00:12there was already an arbitral ruling in 2016,
00:15so it should not be continued after that.
00:19Jonathan Andat was the one who pointed it out.
00:22At the same time that there was no gentleman's agreement,
00:25former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping
00:29insisted in the hearing of the former Executive Secretary of the Duterte,
00:33that the Defense Secretary of the Aquino Administration
00:36was the one who promised to go to China.
00:39It was only limited to food and water
00:42that was sent to the BRP Sierra Madre located in Ayungin Shoal.
00:46The status quo at Ayungin Shoal,
00:49or BRP Sierra Madre,
00:52was in a 2013 commitment of former Defense Secretary Gasmin
00:59to the Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing
01:03that he would only deliver food and water to the marines stationed at the vessel.
01:10There was no gentleman's agreement.
01:12However, we maintained the position of status quo,
01:16so supposedly there was no repair whatsoever.
01:24There was no gentleman's agreement,
01:26but there was an agreement in public.
01:29There was a policy not to repair the BRP Sierra Madre.
01:35That is quite a revelation for me, Mr. Chair.
01:38That was not during our administration.
01:42It was the previous administration.
01:44However, that allegation was not confirmed by the next Defense Secretary of Gasmin,
01:48Delphine Lorenzana.
01:50There was no such thing transmitted to me by Secretary Gasmin.
01:56But it is not true that we did not do some repairs
02:01because in 2021, that was the start of the water cannon in China
02:07because they claimed that we are bringing repair materials to Sierra Madre.
02:13We did the repairs until I left office in 2022.
02:18So, those repairs were continuous by the Navy.
02:21We are still trying to get Gasmin's agreement.
02:24Some congressmen said that if the agreement was true in 2013,
02:27it should not be continued by the Duterte administration
02:30because in 2016, there was a clear arbitral ruling that the Philippines is claiming the Ayungin Shoal.
02:36I did not change my supposed status quo
02:39because I think if that were the case,
02:42we would have postured our foreign policy anchored on the PCA ruling.
02:48At the very least, by that time, the negotiation should have been revoked.
02:53Medialdea said that Duterte helped Xi eight times from October 2016 to August 2019.
03:00In some meetings with former National Security Advisor, Herbio Genes Esperon,
03:04he did not hear any agreement.
03:07What the president said was,
03:09Mr. President, I want to inform you again and make you aware that we have the arbitral ruling.
03:18We want to take advantage and explore and exploit what is in our sovereign rights insofar as the EEZ is concerned.
03:34And so they went to talk about fishing rights in Bajo Dimas in Lug,
03:39as well as the exploration and exploitation of resources under the sea, the seabed,
03:47more specifically on oil or natural gas.
03:52Next, we will invite Gazmin and the former presidential spokesman, Harry Roque,
03:57who signed an unauthorized gentleman's agreement, but not the former president.
04:02No need to invite the former president,
04:05as long as the information comes from the current policy makers as well as the former.
04:15For GMA Integrated News, Jonathan Andal, Katutok, 24 Hours.
04:27Transcription by ESO. Translation by —
