NSC: No need to probe WesCom chief on 'gentleman's agreement'

The National Security Council (NSC) sees no reason to investigate Western Command chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos over the alleged “gentleman’s agreement” between the Philippines and China on the Ayungin Shoal. 

“Insofar the NSC is concerned, we see no reason to investigate Vice Admiral Carlos kasi wala ngang ganung agreement na nangyari,” NSC  Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Monday. 

Malaya reiterated that Beijing’s claims were “preposterous” as the Philippines had never entered into such an agreement.

“Vice Admiral Carlos is a bemedaled member of the Philippine Navy…Kawawa naman siya at dinadawit siya sa insinuations, fake stories and disinformation coming from the Chinese Embassy,” he said. 

“Kung si Vice Admiral Carlos entered into some sort of arrangement bakit siya iwa-water cannon at nasugatan pa? Pag pinagdikit-dikit mo ‘yung storya, it unravels,” he added. 

Defense officials including National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año and Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had dismissed China’s allegations, saying the "new model" claim was a "clear attempt by China to advance another falsehood to divide our people and distract us from their unlawful presence and actions" in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

“I would like to clearly state that any insinuation that the Department of National Defense is a party to any ‘new model’ is a devious machination of China through their Embassy in Manila, and it is curious that it comes right after their actions were condemned in the recent SQUAD meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii,” said Teodoro Jr. 

For his part, Malaya said Año decided to stop issuing statements on the said agreement. 

The Philippines has continually called out China over its repeated aggression in the WPS, including the ramming and firing of water cannons at Philippine vessels.

Tensions between China and the Philippines increased in recent months as both sides traded accusations over a series of incidents in the WPS.

China claims most of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia. 

The July 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling issued by an international tribunal upheld the Philippines' 200 nautical mile EEZ, outlawed Chinese aggression in the common fishing ground of Scarborough Shoal, and rejected China’s expansive nine-dash-line claim of the entire South China Sea. 

The Chinese Embassy over the weekend alleged that the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command (AFP-WesCom) made an agreement with China on a so-called "new model" that the Philippine government supposedly approved. — DVM, GMA Integrated News