MANILA, Philippines — “If you’re bright, why did we lose the West Philippine Sea?”
President Rodrigo Duterte posed this question, phrased in Filipino, to retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario as China continued to keep its presence in the disputed waters.
“That was during your time. It was your time when you were still in position. If you’re bright, why did we lose it? Now it’s China who’s holding it. And it’s me you’re pressuring to find a solution,” Duterte said in Filipino.
The Philippines might have won its case against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. But Duterte s…
Keep on reading: ‘If you’re bright, why did we lose the West Philippine Sea?’ – Duterte to Carpio, Del Rosario