IT was the administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd that first militarized the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), which led to the heightened Chinese presence in the disputed waters, Malacañang said on Monday.

In a news briefing in Cagayan de Oro City, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. cited the move of President Rodrigo Duterte’s predecessor to deploy the country’s biggest warship to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in 2012 to block Chinese vessels from the rich fishing area.

“Just to be realistic, if we will use violence like what Aquino did, which is the reason behind the Chinese presence in the Panatag [Shoal] — the deployment of the Navy ship — will result in a military standoff that we are dodging,” Roque said.





“Let us not forget that it was [former] President Aquino who first militarized [West Philippine Sea] when he brought the Philippine Navy [there]. That is why the Chinese never left the Scarborough,” Roque said.

Roque said Duterte would not apologize for his softer approach against China and stand by his pronouncements that war would break out if the Philippines took a hard-line approach on the dispute.

“The [issue on the] disputed islands, we have to resolve this through diplomacy and we cannot have diplomacy if you are fighting the side that you need to talk to in order to resolve the disputed islands,” Roque added.

Roque’s statement came after Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio said remarks criticizing Duterte’s constant warning that fighting for the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea would lead to war with China.

Carpio, during the graduation ceremony of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance on Friday, said the President’s statements were divisive.

Roque said: “[The President] is an author of the foreign policy. His consistent position is we will not give away any territories and we will not fight.”

Critics of the Duterte government’s stance on the sea dispute want the President to insist on the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that thrashed China’s “nine-dash claim” on the entire South China Sea in July 2016.

The ruling declared that Filipino fishermen should enjoy fishing rights at Panatag Shoal and that the Spratly Islands, as well as the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto Bank, are all within the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.