Experts: ‘Gentleman’s agreement’ favors China, violates Filipinos

International relations experts on Saturday slammed the supposed “gentleman’s agreement” made by former President Rodrigo Duterte with China as it only favors Beijing and compromises the Philippines’ national interest.

At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, De La Salle University international studies professor Renato de Castro said the “gentleman’s agreement actually favors China.” 

“It does not freeze the status quo. Nabubulok na ang BRP Sierra Madre (The BRP Sierra Madre is decaying). ‘Yun lang inaantay ng China (that is what China is waiting for)… maintaining the status quo favors China,” de Castro said.

The supposed deal was bared by Duterte's former spokesperson Harry Roque, but its existence was denied by Salvador Panelo, the chief presidential legal counsel of the previous administration.

Duterte, on Thursday, said he conceded nothing to China during his administration, but he adverted to a "status quo" in which neither the Philippines nor China would make any move to disrupt the South China Sea, including the transport of construction materials to the BRP Sierra Madre.

“The former president, if there’s really such a thing as a gentleman’s agreement, fell into the Chinese trap. It’s also a betrayal to his position as commander in chief of AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines]. Tao niyo ibubuwis buhay nila [pero] papabayaan niyo welfare nila sa isang nabubulok na ship,” the DLSU international studies expert said.

De Castro added that the deal is “tantamount to treachery or betrayal not just of national interest but betrayal of his role as commander in chief of AFP.”

Sought for comment, Roque said the so-called agreement “kept the peace without surrendering an inch of territory and sovereign rights.”

Roque, moreover, said that “[you] can’t impeach an ex-president,” referring to the remarks that Duterte’s supposed gentleman’s deal was a form of treachery and betrayal of national interest.

Geopolitical analyst and DLSU lecturer Don Mclain Gill, for his part, said the gentleman’s agreement “is a clear violation of what we stand for as Filipinos and a clear violation of the very heart of what it is to be a Filipino.”

“This is in fact a grave mistake in terms of our national interest,” Gill said.

Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation resident fellow Joshua Espeña, likewise, said the gentleman’s agreement, if honored by the Philippines, will be a precedent for more similar agreements with other claimant-countries in the disputed maritime territories.

“We cannot allow the Philippines to become an example of how it allows an aggressor to get what it wants,” Espeña said.

Marcos, who is in Washington, D.C., questioned his predecessor as to what he compromised in the "secret agreement" he made with China. 

In a press conference with reporters, Marcos said that he had three questions regarding the supposed agreement — is there such an agreement, what was contained in it, and why was it made secret. —VAL, GMA Integrated News