Duterte’s defense of arbitral win consistent with existing policy -Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense of the Philippines’ arbitral win over China before the United Nations (UN) was consistent with the government’s policy regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea, Malacañang said Thursday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte had vowed even before he became president that he would never surrender an inch of Philippine territory.

“It was a restatement of an old, existing policy,” Roque said in a news conference, even as the President was previously criticized for his decision to set aside the maritime row in pursuit of warmer trade and economic relations with Beijing.

Duterte declared before the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the 2016 ruling, which invalidated China's massive claims, is "beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon.”

The President also rejected attempts to undermine the decision and welcomed the “increasing number of states” that support the Philippines’ legal victory.

“Iyan po ay pagiging consistent lamang na wala po tayong ipamimigay na teritoryo at paninindigan po natin iyong ating panalo  sa UN Tribunal of the Law of the Sea,” Roque said.

Roque earlier said the Philippines will take advantage of the multilateral system to invoke its sovereign rights over some features in the South China Sea, a portion of which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea, following Duterte’s UN speech.

The Palace official also maintained that the South China Sea dispute is not the “sum total” of the country’s bilateral relations with the Asian powerhouse.

“We will move on matters that we could move forward on including trade and investments, and we will, for the time being, set this aside because I don’t think the resolution of the territorial dispute is forthcoming in our lifetime,” Roque said.—AOL, GMA News