‘China lying on new model for Ayungin’

MANILA, Philippines — Denouncing China’s alleged use of misinformation as a weapon of mass distraction, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. accused the Chinese embassy in Manila of again spreading lies in claiming that he knew of secret deals or agreements affecting the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

According to Teodoro, it is not true that the Department of National Defense (DND) was briefed about the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” and a more recent “new model” governing Ayungin Shoal.

“I would like to clearly state that any insinuation that the DND 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 Quad meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii,” Teodoro said over the weekend.

He also reiterated that he has disallowed any contact between the DND and the Chinese embassy since the courtesy call of Ambassador Huang Xilian, a few days after he assumed office in July 2023.

“During the said courtesy call, there was no discussion or briefing on any ‘gentleman’s agreement’ or ‘new model’, which is contrary to the Chinese Embassy’s pronouncements,” Teodoro stressed.

“This charade must stop,” he said, believing that China is again using false information to distract the public from the real issues concerning the WPS where the China Coast Guard (CCG) and maritime militia vessels are harassing and attacking Philippine vessels using water cannons.

In a statement on Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Manila said the so-called gentleman’s agreement on Ayungin Shoal where the grounded BRP Sierra Madre remains was reached during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

On the other hand, it alleged that the “new model” was reached early this year between the Chinese side and the Western Command (WESCOM) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and claimed that Teodoro and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año knew about the deal.

“During the discussion, the AFP WESCOM has made repeated confirmation that the ‘new model’ has been approved by all key officials in the Philippine chain of command, including the Secretary of National Defense and the National Security Advisor,” the Chinese embassy said.

Teodoro said he is again issuing a statement belying China’s claims “to generate awareness on this clear attempt by China to advance another falsehood in order to divide our people and distract us from their unlawful presence and actions in our EEZ.”

“We advise our citizens, the media, and the international community to beware of China’s methods of manipulation, interference, and malign influence in furthering its own interests,” he said.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said the Chinese embassy’s claim of a new model or common understanding between the Philippines and China on the WPS issue “is absolutely absurd, ludicrous, and preposterous.”

“After the courtesy call of the Chinese Ambassador to my office early last year, I have not talked to any official from the Chinese Embassy directly or indirectly on any matter, much more to discuss any arrangement or deal with regards to our rightful and routinary resupply operations in Ayungin Shoal,” Año emphasized.

“No one in the Philippine government is, nor have been, empowered nor authorized to enter into or commit to any sort of agreement, understanding, or arrangement – more so informal ones, by our President. Neither I nor any other principals or officials from the National Task Force for WPS have consented nor committed to any proposal that will compromise the national interest from agents of a foreign power actively engaged in oppressing us in our territories and waters,” he said.

“Nor will we ever even entertain proposals principally premised or grounded on the illegal, debunked, and fabricated ‘9 or 10 dash line.’ The Chinese Embassy needs to be reminded that you can never deceive the Filipino people with your fabricated stories, bluffs, and fake exchanges of communication just to support your illegal claim of Philippine territory as well as to justify your illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive actions particularly the use of military-grade lasers, water cannons, dangerous blocking maneuvers, and ramming of our vessels which has caused wounded casualties on our side,” he added.

Año said the Chinese embassy even went to the extent of creating a chat group with select members of the media wherein “instead of media asking the question, the Chinese Embassy posts leading questions which they themselves answer providing them the opportunity to publish their corrosive narratives and scripted stories.”

He said such a scenario then compels media to ask the Philippine government for comment and “everyone then falls into the trap the Embassy has deceitfully sprung on them.”

Año called on the media to remember that the issue of the so-called gentleman’s agreement “has been definitively put to rest by no less than the President of our Republic. The next time the Chinese Embassy release fake news and disinformation similar to these, we ask that you and everyone kindly view and treat these releases for what they really are: a waste of yours and everyone’s time.”

The AFP’s WESCOM headed by Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos is yet to issue a statement on the direct accusation that it was the one who negotiated the “new model” agreement that allowed a Feb. 2 rotation and resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal to be carried out with zero interference from China.

Pag-asa Cay degradation

Pag-asa Cay, a group of sand bars off Pag-asa Island within the country’s EEZ, is in a degraded state based on a University of the Philippines (UP) marine research assessment made public over the weekend.

According to Jonathan Anticamara of the UP Institute of Biology, Pag-asa Cays now have less than 10 coral and fish species per 100 square meter transect surveyed and most of the corals and fishes are of small sizes.

“Based on our survey for the party of marine biodiversity, many of the corals here in these islands and Pag-asa Island itself and the cays are now degraded,” he said.

The research team also found out that the pile of sand and rubble on Pag-asa Cays 1, 2 and 3 have characteristics that are not common for naturally formed coral or sandy barriers.

What is glaring, Anticamara noted, is that the cays have steeper slopes compared to natural formed islands. Coral rubble were also piled on large live coral colonies.

He stressed that these were made through human activities.

“You cannot find an island in the Philippines that is natural, that the slope is vertical. We can find this in a reclamation area,” he said.

As the piles of rubble are still white and not covered in algae, Anticamara said the human activities on the cays may have been ongoing for about a year.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard’s spokesperson on the WPS, blamed China for the degradation of the Pag-asa Cays.

“There is no other suspect that we can name with these kinds of activities. It is only the People’s Republic of China,” he said.

The CCG have been restricting the Philippine government in carrying marine scientific research in the sand bars, the latest of which happened last March wherein Anticamara’s team was harassed by a Chinese helicopter.

Anticamara’s report was already presented to the National Task Force WPS, Tarriela said.

As the Department of Justice is part of the inter-agency task force, Tarriela said the report can be used to support the Philippine government’s legal offensive against China.

Meanwhile Año pointed out that the recent statement of the Chinese embassy in Manila of a new model agreement on Ayungin Shoal is meant to distract from the bigger story of the piling of dead corral ruble in Pag-asa Cays, which is meant to create a high-tide manmade geologic feature between Pag-asa Island and Subi reef in an attempt to reverse the findings of the 2016 Arbitral Award.

“This is the bigger story that they want to dislodge from the headlines and deflect attention from. It has truly reached a new low of pathetic desperation. Given that this entire ‘arrangement story’ is clearly fake news and disinformation, this will be the last time I will ever comment on this issue,” he announced. — Emmanuel Tupas