Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 22) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said the United States is afraid of going to war with China over the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
“Hadlok ang Amerika eh. Hadlok ang Amerika og giyera. Kahibaw siya og magkagiyera unya gamay lang ang pasangil, not worth it. Kay og magkagiyera, upakan ta nila ug mutabang ang Amerika, it could trigger a world war. Nahibaw ang Amerika, nahibaw tang tanan,” Duterte said in a speech during Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) rally in Agusan del Norte.
[Translation: America is scared of war. They knew that war about something so small is not worth it. Because if they hit us and America decides to help, it could trigger a world war. America knows it. Everybody does.]
The President added the U.S. has other problems with other countries such as Iraq and Iran to resolve.
Duterte also hit at former President Benigno Aquino III and his former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, saying they were the ones who negotiated with China during the 2012 standoff in Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal).
“Kaning si Aquino ug si del Rosario magsige la’g halhal sa ako anang arbitral ruling. But if you go back in time ug diin ni nagsugod, nagsugod ni ngadto sa Scarborough Islands. Naay standoff ngadto ug nahinumdom mo nagpadala ang China og barko, nagpadala pud ta,” he said.
[Translation: Aquino and del Rosario are hounding me about the arbitral ruling. But if you go back in time to when it all began, this started in the Scarborough island. There was a standoff there and I remember that China sent a ship and we sent ours as well.]
Beijing did not pull out of the shoal, setting in motion Manila’s maritime case against it before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands in 2013. The ruling, which was out in 2016, invalidated China’s historical nine-dash line claim over the global waterway, which it uses as defense for its artificial island building.
Earlier, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said tapping the United States for assistance on the sea row requires “serious study.”
The Philippines and the U.S. have a mutual defense treaty which provides that both countries will aid each other in case one is attacked by a foreign power.
