President Rodrigo Duterte might drop his plan to invite the former presidents of the country to a meeting to discuss the issues concerning the West Philippine Sea after ex-senator Juan Ponce Enrile shared his views on the maritime dispute, Malacañang said on May 24.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte’s plan to meet ex-presidents was not a “done deal” and was no longer urgent since Enrile concurred that the administration’s policy on the WPS is “correct and working.”
In his online briefing, Roque said, “Mukha namang after JPE concurred that the President is pursuing the right policy on the West Philippine Sea, eh wala naman pong urgency na pag-usapan ang bagay na ito either with the National Security Council or with the former presidents.”
“So this is not a done deal po, it was something that the President was speculating on before JPE fully concurred with his policy on the WPS,” he added.
Roque also said that President Duterte might continue his current approach on the WPS until the end of his term since Enrile advised him to stay “friendly” with China.
“The approach should be friendly — not a hard, assertive, and aggressive approach,” the former senator said during the meeting with Duterte.
In earlier reports, present and former senators called for the government to have a firm stand on the issue. In a statement, Senator Grace Poe said that, “this is the country’s resources we are talking about. There shouldn’t be any debate as to whether we should protect it or not. There is only one constitutional answer—we should. The only thing left for us to discuss now is how.”
Former Senator Rodolfo Biazon also expressed his dismay over NSC and the government, and urged them to come up with a unified position on the WPS.
“The different pronouncements of the President, Cabinet members, lawmakers and ex-lawmakers and experts on the issue spawns danger and confusion,” Biazon stressed.
This was later on answered by Roque, and insisted that there is nothing confusing on the stand of the Executive regarding the issue.
“Wala pong confusing sa posisyon ng Presidente. Walang mawawalang teritoryo sa panahon niya,” the presidential spokesperson said.
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