00:00 "All the former presidents' men who testified in today's Joint House hearing of the Committees
00:05 on National Defense and Security and on the West Philippine Sea firmly push back on any
00:11 handshake deal between the former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese counterpart Xi
00:16 Jinping in all eight times they met or faced off in the world stage."
00:22 So he points a finger at the previous administration without any proof except citing a former defense
00:28 chief as we hear more from our Mela Lez Moras.
00:34 As they attended the joint hearing of the House Committees on National Defense and Security
00:39 and the West Philippine Sea, former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, former National
00:45 Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon, and former Defense Secretary and now BCDA Chairperson
00:51 Delfin Renzana all denied any gentleman's agreement or secret deal between former President
00:57 Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the West Philippine Sea.
01:02 According to Renzana, way before this issue broke out, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines
01:07 Wang Shilian had made mention of an agreement allegedly forged by the two countries but
01:12 they have no information about it as it was allegedly made a long time ago.
01:16 "He was claiming that there was this agreement between the embassy of China and officials
01:25 of the government.
01:28 We grounded that ship there in Ayungin, that we promised to pull it out, and I asked him,
01:36 'How sure are you that what you're talking is true?'
01:39 And he said, 'Because I was here.'
01:41 Ambassador Wang said that he was here as a junior staff in 1999 when the Seytamadri
01:47 incident happened.
01:48 And so I said, 'I cannot find somebody from the retired ranks of the AFP to corroborate
01:54 what he was saying.'
01:56 So we leave it at that."
01:57 For his part, Medialdea said if there was any agreement on the West Philippine Sea,
02:02 he's certain it did not happen during the Duterte administration but there was one allegedly
02:07 under the administration of former President Noynoy Aquino.
02:12 This he said about the resupply mission to the BRP Seytamadri at Ayungin Shoal which
02:17 was supposedly and strictly limited to water and food.
02:20 "Voltaire Gasmin, he promised the Chinese embassy that he will deliver only food and
02:30 water to the Marines assigned at the vessel."
02:35 "Mr. Chair, was there any talk with the previous administration on rescinding that
02:39 agreement?"
02:40 "No, there was none.
02:41 It was the call of the President, who is the chief architect, whether to respect that or
02:45 not."
02:46 "Mr. Chair, based on testimony, there is a denial of the existence of a gentleman's
02:51 agreement but there is the affirmation of an existing agreement which is not a gentleman's
02:56 agreement, it was in public."
02:58 "Not entered into by our administration but the administration before us."
03:05 When the Department of Foreign Affairs was asked, they said they had no information about
03:09 this.
03:10 Even Lorenzana said he was not aware of such agreement.
03:14 "Mr. Chairman, there was no such thing transmitted to me by Secretary Gasmin when he was briefing
03:26 me about the job before I assumed the office, Mr. Chairman.
03:30 But it is not true that we did not do some repairs because in 2021, as I said a while
03:39 ago in my opening statement, that was the start of binomba tayo ng water cannon ng China
03:47 because they have declaimed that we are bringing repair materials to Sierra Madre."
03:54 Because of Medialdea's revelation, the committee decided to also invite former Defense Secretary
03:59 Walter Gasmin to the next hearing.
04:01 Meanwhile, in a press conference, the House leadership assured that whatever the outcome
04:06 of the joint hearing, they will continue to support the Philippine troops tasked to protect
04:10 the West Philippine Sea.
04:12 "Rest assured, ito pong pagdating ng budget season ngayong August, September, ang House
04:20 of Representatives po as always and as expected will be in full support to the Philippine
04:26 Coast Guard, to the Philippine Navy or ano pang agency that we are, that are tasked to
04:33 help protect our sovereignty."
04:35 Mel Alice Moras from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines
