Former President and now Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday broke her silence on the difficulty concerning the BRP Sierra Madre, which China claimed was promised by the Philippines to be faraway from the Ayungin Shoal.
“I have been asked to comment on claims that the Philippine government had promised China to remove BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoa…. I never made such a promise to China or any other country. Second, I never authorized any of my government officials to make such a promise,” stated Arroyo in a press release.
Arroyo made the assertion days after her former spokesperson, Rigoberto Tiglao stood by his declare that it was former President Joseph Estrada who promised China that the BRP Sierra Madre will likely be faraway from the Ayungin Shoal.
Arroyo, for her half, stated she was unaware of any talks concerning the BRP Sierra Madre.
“I only became aware of such claims recently when the matter surfaced in public discussions,” added Arroyo.
The former President additional famous that she wouldn’t make any additional remark to permit the overseas affairs officers to take care of the difficulty “with a minimum of distraction”.
Tiglao has claimed that the dedication with China was made throughout the Estrada Administration in 1999, the identical 12 months the rusting Navy ship was put in on the shoal.
Tiglao additionally stated he has sufficient proof to show his declare.
Estrada’s camp denied this declare, as his son, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, stated it might have been “illogical” for him to make the promise.
The youthful Estrada additionally stated former senator Orly Mercado “confirmed that there was no agreement or promise to the Chinese government.”
Mercado, who served as Estrada’s protection secretary, earlier said that the Estrada administration made no such promise.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. additionally stated he isn’t conscious of any such settlement however that if one exists, he’s now rescinding it.
The National Security Council (NSC) has additionally dismissed the declare of Tiglao.
China’s declare over the supposed promise of the Philippines got here after the China Coast Guard fired water canons on 4 Philippine vessels on their solution to Ayungin Shoal to resupply the servicemen stationed on the Sierra Madre.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has additionally known as on China to not intervene in its subsequent resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre.
“They should not interfere in our RoRe (rotation and resupply) mission,” stated AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar in a News Forum in Quezon City.
Asked what the navy would do ought to China Coast Guard don’t heed their name, the AFP spokesperson stated, “We will see what will happen.”
In 2016, the Philippines triumphed in a landmark ruling by a world tribunal that invalidated China’s huge claims to almost everything of the South China Sea, together with the West Philippine Sea, or the waters throughout the Philippines’ unique financial zone. —Sherylin Untalan/ VAL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
