NSC says it can't probe 'gentleman's agreement' between ex-Pres. Duterte, China

The National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday said it could not launch its own investigation into the supposed "gentleman's agreement" involving the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte and the Chinese government regarding resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. 

NSC assistant director general Jonathan Malaya said this was because the issue involved the previous administration, and both he and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año were only appointed to the NSC only last year. 

“Mahirap sa amin sa NSC na mag-imbestiga dito dahil ito ay may kinalaman sa nakaraang administrasyon. Kami ay naupo lang naman dito last year noong naitalaga si National Security Adviser Eduardo Año as National Security Adviser. So, hindi kami puwedeng mag-imbestiga nito,” Malaya said in an Unang Balita interview. 

(It’s difficult for us in the NSC to investigate this because this involves the previous administration. We were just appointed here last year when NSA Eduardo Año was appointed as National Security Adviser. So, we can't investigate this.) 

Año served as Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the Duterte administration. Prior to that, he was the Armed Forces chief of staff from December 2016 to October 2017.

Malaya, meanwhile, was also designated undersecretary of DILG during the previous administration.  

Malaya said lawmakers, however, may conduct their own investigation into the supposed agreement. 

“Karapatan naman ‘yan ng lehislatura ng Kongreso kung gusto nilang mag-imbestiga as an equal branch of government,” he said.

(Congress has the right if they want to investigate this, as an equal branch of government.) 

This "gentleman's agreement" was earlier disclosed by former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, where Duterte supposedly had a deal with Beijing that the Philippines should only deliver food and water supplies to Filipino troops on BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

Lighthouse

In the same interview, Malaya said government agencies should get behind Congress' move to build a structure in the Ayungin Shoal, after a bill providing for the construction of a lighthouse there was filed in the House of Representatives.

Under House Bill 19226, the lighthouse will monitor and safeguard Philippine sovereign rights and resources in the Ayungin Shoal and adjacent waters, as well as serve as an aid for boats and ships passing through the area to prevent maritime accidents.

Malaya said there was an allocated fund under the 2024 General Appropriations Act for the development of Ayungin Shoal, which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“Ibig sabihin, batas po 'yan. That is the will of Congress na magkaron tayo ng structure doon maliban doon sa BRP Sierra Madre,” Malaya said. 

(That's a law. It is the will of Congress that we build a structure in Ayungin Shoal other than the BRP Sierra Madre.) 

“Walang magagawa ang ating gobyerno kundi sundin kung ano man ang nakasaad sa General Appropriations Act,” he added.

(Our government must follow whatever is stated in the General Appropriations Act.) 

The Philippine government sued China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013. The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.

Ayungin Shoal is in the Philippines' EEZ and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and as upheld by the 2016 Arbitral Award. 

China, however, refuses to recognize the ruling to this day.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News