Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. begins his term as the nation counts down to an international tribunal’s ruling on its maritime case against China.
On Friday, he faced questions from Filipino and Chinese journalists regarding what he said during the first official Cabinet meeting.
He had said if the Philippines won the case, it might be pointless if China ignored it and barred Filipino fishermen from the West Philippine Sea anyway.
He was asked if his statement revealed a plan to be softer towards China.
“I felt that we should make our statements in a manner that will not be provocative or exacerbate tensions, especially when the ruling could be in favor of the Philippines. This is not to say that we will be soft insofar as asserting our rights as recognized or awarded by the arbitral tribunal should their decision come out,” Yasay said.
Also read: Duterte admin open to multilateral talks on South China Sea issue – Yasay
The big question is what if China does ignore the ruling and take aggressive action in the West Philippine Sea? Yasay said he would rather focus on the other possibility — a friendlier response from China.
“There is also equally the possibility that China will not, because it has assured us of its relationship of goodwill with us. In fact, without the decision of the UNCLOS court, it has allowed our fishermen to fish in there,” he said.
But fishermen in Zambales earlier said the Chinese coast guard still had driven them away from Scarborough Shoal. The only thing that changed is they are now allowed to fish near the shoal and that’s not nearly as good as fishing inside it.
Related: Duterte says he won’t surrender rights in South China Sea
Yasay declined to say more. Instead, he echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order not to say anything on the matter before the arbitration ruling is out.
It led to a question from a journalist, “Is the Philippines afraid of China?”
Yasay answered, “Why should we be afraid of China? I mean, I do not see any reason why we should be afraid of China. Why do you think the Philippines should be afraid of China?”
Afraid or not, Yasay said the Constitution had mandated a peaceful approach to resolving disputes with other countries.
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