Q & A: Philippine Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. talks about the Philippines and Chinese claim on the islets and reefs in the West Philippines Sea and his probable run for the vice presidency with political columnist Mortz C. Ortigoza. Excerpts:
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| Senator Bong Bong Marcos (C) poses for posterity with Veteran Scribe Ruben Rivera and Columnist Mortz Ortigoza (extreme right). |
MORTZ: Sir, lately I was watching the Spratly and Scarborough Islets (in the West Philippines Sea) brouhahas there were 16 Pangasinan fishermen who wrote a complaint to the United Nations, then I saw your statement there that you were for the Bilateral Agreement with the Chinese.....
SENATOR BONGBONG MARCOS: No, no, no. I am for the Bilateral Talks with the Chinese..
MORTZ: Ya, Bilateral Talks with the Chinese...
MARCOS: Because, because for the first time in the entire situation the Chinese has agreed to talk in the framework of international law or the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) which is something that they never done before. Tapos noong nakaraan they talked about the 9 Dash Lines. Now they are willing to talk about under UN. That’s new. Hindi rin ni-rerecognized ng ating DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) hindi ata nalalaman kung gaano kalaking pagbabago ito. So we continued to do nothing except making our case in the jurisdiction ng UN.
MORTZ: The perception in the Philippines is the Chinese could not be trusted. One of the examples there is the Panatag Shoal’s hullabaloo where the BRP Pampanga left (in 2012 after it replaced the country’s frigate BRP Gregorio Del Pilar) with the Chinese as agreed. They, the Chinese ships, did not leave the place that’s why Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Shoal now is controlled by the Chinese.
