Medialdea: Agreement on BRP Sierra Madre made during Aquino admin

Former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Tuesday claimed that an agreement that only food and water were allowed to be brought to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal was made in 2013, during the administration of late President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Medialdea, who served under the Duterte administration, revealed this during a hearing of the House Committee on National Defense and Security with the Special Committee on West Philippine Sea on the “gentleman’s agreement” supposedly entered into by former President Rodrigo Duterte with the Chinese government.

“The information I gathered was that there was a previous commitment that food and water will be allowed to be shipped to the debilitated vessel since 2013,” the former executive secretary said.

“That’s what I gathered when the decision came out 12 days after we assumed office. I was just asking around what’s the present status of the Ayungin Shoal because I know there was a vessel there.”

According to Medialdea, it was former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin who entered into the supposed agreement in 2013 with then-Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing.

This was three years before the 2016 arbitration ruling that nullified China’s massive claim over the disputed South China Sea.

Ayungin Shoal is in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and as upheld by the 2016 arbitral award.

Grounded at the Ayungin Shoal since 1999 was the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II ship which is a symbol of the Philippines’ claim to the West Philippine Sea.

'Respecting 2013 agreement'

Medialdea said that the Duterte administration, which only assumed office just days after the Philippines won the arbitration case, was merely “respecting” the 2013 commitment made by Gazmin with regard to the delivery of food and water to the troops deployed in the BRP Sierra Madre.

“Alam ko, may continuation ‘yung ano na ‘yan because that was respected. We had to follow that 'di ba…for us to move on,” he said.

(I think there was a continuation of that commitment during the Duterte administration because we respected it and we had to follow it for us to move on.)

“Remember, we just assumed office 12 days earlier. Hindi natin alam itong ano na ‘to. Tignan natin kung ano makakabuti sa paglabas ng desisyon [We did not know what it was about. We were thinking what would be good following the release of the decision]. Remember, we haven’t received a copy of the decision at that time. It came out two weeks after, I think, when we were given a copy of the decision,” he added.

Medialdea, however, clarified that there was no commitment regarding the delivery of repair materials to the BRP Sierra Madre, only about the essentials.

He also said that Duterte did not rescind the 2013 agreement and decided to maintain the status quo during his term.

“No, there was none. It was the call of the President, who is the chief architect, whether to respect that or not,” he said.

“And I think President Duterte was of the position that we respect this first, because this is a new one. In the same manner that when President Marcos came into office, he rescinded what the arrangement was all about--agreement, which we do not even know up to now what it is.”

This resulted in further scrutiny from several congressmen, asking why the Duterte administration still pursued a status quo policy on Ayungin Shoal despite being already in position when the arbitral ruling was revealed.

House special committee on the West Philippine Sea chair Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said that assuming Gazmin’s commitment to China was true, Duterte still did nothing to change the policy.

“The arbitral court declared that Ayungin was ours, that we have sovereign rights over that area. We could have done what we wanted to do there. In fact, we could do anything, but we did not,” he said.

Duterte earlier 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.

For his part, former Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that Gazmin did not transmit to him any information about the agreement that his predecessor supposedly entered into.

Lorenzana also refuted that the Duterte administration did not entirely bring repair materials to the BRP Sierra Madre, saying that in 2021, it had to repair a small portion of the vessel to help the troops there live comfortably.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Aileen Mendiola-Rau also said that she could not recall any knowledge of the said agreement.

“The 2013 statement that’s been discussed was a statement allegedly made by Secretary Gazmin of the DND. The DFA cannot make any determination on this one. I would have to defer to my colleagues,” Mendiola-Rau said.

GMA News Online contacted the Aquino camp to get their comments regarding Medialdea’s claim, and will update the story once they respond.

Gentleman’s agreement

As to the alleged gentleman’s agreement made by Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Medialdea denied the existence of such.

The former executive secretary said that he was able to personally attend two of the official meetings between Duterte and Xi, and in those meetings he said, “no gentleman's agreement ever took place.”  

“President Duterte, being a lawyer, knew fully well that it was foolhardy to enter into an agreement, especially a gentleman's agreement at that, with the president of the People's Republic of China on matters involving sovereign rights,” Medialdea said.

He also emphasized that an agreement regarding the situation in the BRP Sierra Madre was made during the Aquino administration and not the Duterte administration.

During the same hearing, panel vice chairperson Representative Raul Tupas said that an invitation was also sent to former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to attend the inquiry, but said he is currently out of the country and would be willing to attend future hearings.

It was Roque who earlier disclosed that the Philippines entered into a "gentleman’s agreement" with China which barred the country from sending repair materials to the BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal.

Roque said the deal that the Philippines would only deliver food and water supplies to Filipino troops on BRP Sierra Madre was reached during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte and publicized by then Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

Salvador Panelo, the chief presidential legal counsel under the Duterte administration, had denied that there was a gentleman’s agreement between Duterte and China. —KG/RSJ, GMA Integrated News