MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte and his government must be transparent when it comes to the 29 bilateral agreements it signed with the Chinese government, urged Vice President Leni Robredo.
Robredo said that the administration must release to the public the contents of its dealings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. As of Wednesday, the government has yet to publicly release copies of its deals with China.
“We call on the administration to be transparent with all the bilateral agreements signed yesterday with the People’s Republic of China,” Robredo said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Filipino people should be informed how deals – such as the Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative, the Infrastructure Cooperation Program, and, most notably, the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development – will benefit our country and serve our national interest,” she added.
The Philippines and China on Tuesday inked 29 deals, including a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation on oil and gas development in the disputed West Philippines Sea.
“The administration should also stand firm and exert all diplomatic means to assert our sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, consistent with the our historic victory before the arbitral tribunal more than two years ago,” she said.
“Our sovereignty must not be compromised in any agreement we enter into with any country,” she added. “Our friendship with China, though welcome, should not come at the expense of the interests of our people and our nation.”
“Our interests should always come first when we deepen relations with other nations, especially at a time when majority of our people continue to contend with daily challenges brought about by elevated prices and lack of livelihood opportunities,” she said./PN
