Gibo denies China claim on Ayungin deal

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. has again clarified that there is no internal or gentleman’s agreement between the Philippines and China on the Ayungin Shoal, particularly on the fate of the BRP Sierra Madre.

“The Department of National Defense is not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China on Ayungin Shoal since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. took office,” Teodoro said in a statement.

“As a matter of fact, the Department of National Defense has not had any contact with any Chinese government officials since last year,” he said.

A spokesperson at China’s embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two countries had agreed early this year to a “new model” in managing tensions in the Ayungin Shoal, without elaborating.

“The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood,” the DND chief said.

He said spreading of falsehood is part of the Chinese propaganda effort to steer the Filipinos’ attention away from the real cause of the tensions in the West Philippine Sea, which is “China’s obstinate refusal to adhere to UNCLOS, which they are a signatory to.”

“We will never enter into any agreement that will compromise our sovereignty and sovereign rights under the UNCLOS, as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling,” Teodoro said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

National Security Council (NSC) assistant director General Jonathan Malaya also denounced China’s floating of a new narrative on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“First, it was the alleged ‘promise’ which then became the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ and now the latest version, the ‘new model’ or ‘internal understanding’,” Malaya said.

“The propaganda masters are clearly working overtime in Beijing to sow discord and division in our country for one purpose alone: to push their claim that the Philippines is the one causing increased tensions in the WPS and provoking conflict because it has reneged on its promises,” he said in a separate statement.

Malaya said the so-called “new model” announced by the Chinese embassy is nothing more than a new invention, as he