Locsin on PH boat sinking: 'Fuck the international community'
TOP DIPLOMAT. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr appears at a congressional briefing on the passport processing system on January 30, 2019. Photo by Darren Langit/Rappler
MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr on Thursday, June 13, dismissed calls to seek support from the international community after a Chinese vessel sank a Filipino boat in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Locsin also claimed he "fired off a diplomatic protest" on Wednesday, June 12, but did not disclose the subject of this protest.
"Fuck the international community. It can be bought. This is our fight and in the end ours alone," said Locsin in a tweet Thursday morning.
Fuck the international community. It can be bought. This is our fight and in the end ours alone. https://t.co/leMWaDTWr8
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) June 12, 2019
The Philippines' top diplomat was responding to Twitter user Victor Ricolcol, who urged the government to present the situation to the international community and "ask other friendly nations for support."
Locsin's predecessor, Albert del Rosario, had also said on Wednesday, June 12, that the Philippines should "consider a multilateral approach" in settling its dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.
"For instance, how much longer must our people wait for our government to seek a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly to promote our arbitral tribunal outcome which is now an integral part of international law?" Del Rosario said
In a press conference on Thursday, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo dismissed Del Rosario’s suggestion for the Philippines to take the multilateral approach – or involve other countries in its challenge to China’s sweeping claims to the West Philippine Sea.
“He doesn’t have to tell us what to do. We know what to do. Dapat ginawa nila noon noong sila’y nandiyan pa (They should’ve done that before when they were still in power),” said the Duterte spokesman.
Del Rosario was part of the legal team that went to the international tribunal in the Hague to sue China for its island-building activities in the West Philippine Sea.
He had recommended the Philippine government seek a resolution from the United Nations General Assembly to promote the historic 2016 ruling against China in order to pressure the Asian giant into respecting the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
China detests a multilateral set-up, which can involve third parties such as the United States, in settling the dispute over the South China Sea. The Asian giant insists on settling the dispute bilaterally, or one on one with each claimant country, where it can use loans and grants as leverage against poor countries like the Philippines.
The Philippines in July 2016 won an international ruling that invalidated China's expansive claim over the South China Sea. The Duterte administration however refuses to use this ruling to gather international support – as initially envisioned by the Aquino administration – as leverage against its powerful neighbor. – with a report from Pia Ranada/Rappler.com
Read stories related to the incident:
- Chinese vessel sinks Philippine boat in West PH Sea ‘collision’
- Sinking of Filipino vessel ‘a first’ in Philippines-China row
- TIMELINE: Skirmishes, standoffs, harassment in West Philippine Sea
- Hold China accountable, Del Rosario says after sinking of PH boat
- AFP: Chinese vessel's sinking of PH boat ‘far from accidental’
- Panelo says possible for PH to cut ties with China over boat sinking
- Locsin hits ‘collision’ of Philippine, Chinese vessels
- Philippines asks China to sanction Chinese crew of vessel in collision
- LOOK: Philippine fishing boat sunk by Chinese vessel in West PH Sea
- ‘Not a friend’: Netizens hit China over sinking of Philippine boat
- Owner of PH boat sunk by Chinese ship: 'I only ask for justice'
- Lorenzana now unsure if Chinese vessel sank Philippine boat
- China calls sinking of Philippine boat an 'ordinary maritime accident'
- WATCH: How alleged Chinese ship sank Filipino fishing vessel in West PH Sea
- 3 speeches in a row, Duterte silent on Chinese ship sinking PH vessel
