Tangina talaga ni Digong. Traydor! His Phil-American War rant was just a smokescreen to avoid raising the WPS issue in ASEAN!
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Duterte's undelivered ASEAN speech cites West PH Sea ruling
VIENTIANE, Laos – If he didn't ditch his prepared speech, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte would have done another unexpected thing at the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
Had he not delivered a "passionate" speech on human rights, Duterte on Thursday, September 8, would have urged respect for the historic ruling won by the Philippines over the South China Sea, parts of which the Philippines claims as the West Philippine Sea.
Duterte's undelivered intervention at the 11th East Asia Summit cited the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the basis of the landmark ruling that favored the Philippines.
Duterte would have said, "We can be open to exploring other options to settle disputes, provided that these are in accord with international law and ASEAN core values."
"This includes full respect for legal and diplomatic processes recognized under the UN Charter, international law including UNCLOS, and the recent arbitral award on the South China Sea which is now part of international jurisprudence relative to the maritime domain. These provide and support a rules-based approach for resolving maritime disputes," the President would have added.
Duterte earlier said he had no plans of bringing up the West Philippine Sea dispute during the ASEAN Summit in Laos.
The President, after all, had stressed the need for a "soft landing" in the sea dispute, as Manila tries to boost ties with Beijing.
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