PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. refused to reveal all the details of their meeting with former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
It can be remembered that President Marcos and former President Duterte met at the Malacañang palace last week where FPRRD even gave advice to PBBM.
In a media interview in Bulacan on Monday, President Marcos said that FPRRD discussed with him what was tackled with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Beijing.
But according to Marcos, it is difficult to reveal the information in the discussion because it has to do with the operational aspects of the Philippine Military, Navy, and coast guard.
“We just… Pinag-usapan lang kung ano yung pinag-usapan nila. Nagkuwentuhan sila. Of course, there are other things na pinag-usapan which I think need to remain confidential. That’s between president digong and myself.”
“So again these are operational aspects of our military, of our navy, of our coast guard kaya mahirap masyadong pag-usapan,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said.
Recently, former President Rodrigo Duterte met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
According to Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Xi said that he appreciated the strategy chosen by former President Duterte to improve the relationship between the Philippines and China during his presidency.
Meanwhile, President Marcos also issued a statement regarding the Chinese Coast Guard’s water cannon bombardment of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship that was going to Ayungin Shoal to deliver supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre.
The President said that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs has gone to the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines and brought another note verbale including pictures and videos of what happened.
PBBM once again affirmed that the Philippines will continue to assert its sovereignty and territorial rights.
At the same time, he said the Philippines has to keep communicating with China to come up with a conclusion.
“But we still have to keep communicating with the Chinese government, with President Xi, with Beijing. We still have to keep communicating with them because we need to really come to a conclusion,” Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
The chief executive said the government would await China’s response but declined to discuss the operational aspects of the recent incident involving the Chinese Coast Guard.
Although there were no reports of casualties in the incident, President Marcos emphasized that China’s recent action against the PCG will lead to insufficient supplies for the troops stationed at BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
President Marcos said this is something the government must address.
Moreover, President Marcos Jr. called for a command conference in order to formulate a comprehensive action to respond to such incident.
