Marcos: RORE deal with China doesn't weaken PH position in West PH Sea
The provisional understanding with China regarding rotation and resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea does not weaken the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereign rights, President. . .
The provisional understanding with China regarding rotation and resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea does not weaken the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereign rights, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday. He made the remarks at the presidential luncheon hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. Marcos said debates on the RORE provisional understanding with China focused on the “wrong thing. ”The President said the arrangements are “to prevent any kind of miscalculation or mistake that might lead to even greater attention and hopefully, not conflict. ”“And that’s what we are trying to avoid, and that’s why we make these arrangements,” he added. The Chief Executive underscored the importance of sending continuous supplies to Filipino troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal and that when the country does so, it simply issues a “standard” notice to inform of its movements in the West Philippine Sea. “That is the extent of it and that does not somehow make [us] more vulnerable or give up any of our sovereign rights, any of our territorial claims that are relevant in this territory, especially under the UNCLOS and the arbitral award. Nothing of that has been weakened in any way, shape, or form,” he said. The President added: “It is just an arrangement to inform not any specific country or group or vessel, but everyone who is in the West Philippine Sea that the vessels from the Philippines are going to sail from this place to that place on this day. And that is all, so that there is no confusion that these are unidentified vessels and they have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. ”He then went on to say that the provisional understanding could not even be considered a “special arrangement” with Beijing. “I hesitate to use the word ‘arrangement’ because we’re not going into any arrangement with everyone. We’re just conducting ourselves according to the standard practice of the vessels sailing in the West Philippine Sea and, for that matter, in other seas,” Marcos said. He added: “There is no special arrangement… Somehow, the implication is that we have to ask for permission or that we have to give up some kind of, some of our rights. That’s not the case at all. The case is very simple. ”Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the provisional understanding has led to 15 incident-free RORE missions. However, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said he is unaware of the provisional understanding.