Carpio: Duterte exceeded authority in ‘gentleman’s agreement’

FILE: Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte presides over the 54th Cabinet meeting at the Malacañan Palace on May 30, 2022. ALBERTO ALCAIN/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday said former President Rodrigo Duterte acted beyond his authority and surrendered the country’s rights if he did indeed enter into a “gentleman’s agreement’ with China not to maintain BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippine Marine outpost in Ayungin Shoal.

“Duterte knew that without repairs the BRP Sierra Madre would soon collapse and thus end our presence in Ayungin Shoal,” Carpio said in a statement.

“Yet Duterte agreed, in a concession to China, that the Philippines could only bring food and water to BRP Sierra Madre, and would not bring materials to repair the Sierra Madre.”

Carpio explained that Duterte made this concession even as the Arbitral Tribunal had already ruled in its July 12, 2016 ruling that Ayungin Shoal is part of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with the Philippines having exclusive right to erect structures on Ayungin Shoal.

“Duterte’s ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ was lopsided in favor of China, which under the Arbitral Award, had no right to erect any structure on Ayungin Shoal, and had no right to stop the Philippines from erecting any structure on Ayungin Shoal, much less any right to stop the Philippines from repairing the BRP Sierra Madre. That ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ was a disguised surrender of our EEZ rights over Ayungin Shoal, as it gave China veto power over our exclusive right to erect structures on Ayungin Shoal,” Carpio said.