Who broke a promise: China or the Philippines?

The BRP Sierra Madre, which was intentionally grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal. Photo from Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

By Manuel Mogato | Date 04-07-2024

MANILA  — China has accused the Philippines of not honoring its promise not to repair BRP Sierra Madre, a stranded naval transport on Ayungin Shoal, and only to deliver food and water to troops stationed on the rusting vessel.

Lawyer Harry Roque, the former spokesman of former president Rodrigo Duterte, reinforced China’s accusation.

China also said the Philippines had also walked back on another promise to tow away the ship, which was deliberately stuck in a submerged shoal about 120 nautical miles west of Palawan.

However, no written documents or records showed that the Philippines made those promises. Can China produce proof that the pledges were made? Who was the leader that made the promises? If there is no written proof, the supposed deals do not exist.

The only proof was the “gentleman’s agreement” between Duterte and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which Roque revealed.

But who would take Roque’s words as gospel truth? He could be mouthing China’s propaganda. Another lawyer, Salvador Panelo, a known friend and former spokesman for the previous president, denied Roque’s statements.
The public must stop speculating about the promise. China’s statements are not mere propaganda. Roque is not a credible source.

Unless China and Roque show proof of the deals, the public should dismiss the promises as hogwash, a spin to accuse the Philippine government of not honoring its promises.

The truth is it was China that broke its promise. China is a master of deception; one of the lessons Beijing had learned from philosopher Sun Tzu on how to win wars.

After the Philippines discovered in early 1995 that China had built structures on stilts in Mischief Reef, locally known as Panganban Reef, a low tide elevation atoll within the Phllippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), China said the structures were only temporary shelter for fishermen in the rich, traditional fishing ground.

China said Filipino fishermen can also shelter in Mischief Reef during harsh weather conditions, especially during the monsoon season.

China’s statements about Mischief Reef were made public, but there were records that Filipinos were allowed to stay in the makeshift shelters.

By 1999, the temporary shelter became a permanent fortified concrete structure. In 2014, China began its massive land reclamation, converting Mischief Reef into an artificial island with a three-kilometer runaway, a secure port, and a military base with anti-ship and anti-air missiles.

China has kept fishermen from Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam from accessing Mischief Reef, reneging on its promise in 1995.
So, who was breaking a promise? Is it the Philippines or China?

It was clear as day that China had broken its promise. It needs proof that the Philippines should have honored its word.

Roque’s words do not mean anything until he proves Duterte made a gentleman’s deal with Xi. It is just propaganda to advance China’s interests. Roque’s statements were also disputed by another pro-Duterte lawyer.

Senior government officials from the defense, foreign affairs, and National Security Council denied any deal to remove BRP Sierra Madre or repair the ship.

BRP Sierra Madre is in an area within the country’s EEZ, and the Philippine government has every right to do what is in its best interests: keep the vessel afloat for 25 years.

It has all the rights to repair and keep BRP Sierra Madre from collapsing because it symbolizes the country’s sovereignty.

Orlando Mercado, the former defense secretary, had a brilliant idea of grounding two vessels in 1999 to protect the country’s sovereign rights and sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea when China was slowly and quietly expanding in the strategic waterway.

The Philippines has to put to a stop China’s occupation of uninhabited features in the Spratly. After Mischief Reef, China might hop into other reefs, shoals, and atolls much closer to Palawan, like Sabina Shoal, Half Moon Shoal, and the Reed Bank.

It has started to install Chinese markers to claim the uninhabited features. The Philippines had blown up these markers, sending nervous shocks to Hawaii years after the US withdrawal from Clark and Subic in 1992.

Up to 2012, the US was too timid to meddle in the South China Sea as it considers China an economic partner and a potential ally against archrival Russia.

All that changed after Donald Trump took office and the Philippines won its arbitration case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in July 2016.

The US withdrawal from Subic and Clark had encouraged China to expand in the South China Sea, taking advantage of the vacuum left by Washington. The US was also dependent on China’s economy, and the US administration was too careful to ruffle China’s feathers.

Thus, it did not lift its fingers when China reneged on another promise – to remove its Coast Guard vessels around Scarborough Shoal to reduce tension around the rocky outcrop 130 miles west of Zambales province.
China needs a better history of breaking its promises, from Mischief Reef to Scarbrough Shoal.

Should the Philippines trust China? It has been trying hard to show that the Philippines could have been better in keeping its promises when it was China, which needs to be honoring its words.