<\/p>\n
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he is baffled by the \u201csecret agreement\u201d reached by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, with China confirming that an agreement was reached during the Duterte administration over the Ayungin Shoal.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n During a media interview Friday in Washington D.C., President Marcos said he has three questions regarding the gentleman\u2019s agreement, or secret agreement: Is there such an agreement? What is contained in the secret agreement, and why is it secret?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo, now, with the confirmation of the Chinese Embassy. We now know that there was a secret agreement. Now, this is, the second question that I have, is what is contained in the second agreement?\u201d he told reporters.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAno ba ang pinangako ng Duterte administration sa China? Dahil hindi pa natin alam eh kung \u2013 ngayon lang pa lang natin talaga \u2013 ngayon lang tayo nakakatiyak na mayroon talagang, mayroon pala talagang agreement. Tawag nila is gentleman\u2019s agreement, tawag ko diyan, secret agreement,\u201d he further stated.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Marcos expressed wonder why the former president, being a very experienced lawyer, decided not to document, record, or announce the agreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nevertheless, President Marcos said he is ready to sit down with the former president to discuss foreign policy and the agreements entered into by the government in connection with the South China Sea.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was reported that the former leader claimed to have in his possession documents relating to China and is said to be reviewing all the agreements entered into by his administration.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSend them to me and then we\u2019ll sit down. Send those documents to me. And then I\u2019ll sit down and discuss it. I\u2019ll do my homework for him. Just the way I work. I read all the materials first so when I\u2019m in the conference, I can ask intelligent questions,\u201d President Marcos said when asked in a media interview if he is willing to discuss the issue with Duterte.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo send me the materials, personally to me. \u2018Wag na sa DOJ(Department of Justice), sa DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), sa akin. Padala n\u2019ya sakin. Marami kaming common na kaibigan. Send them to me. Pag-aralan ko. Mag-usap kami kung gusto n\u2019ya,\u201d the Chief Executive said.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The President also said he disagrees with the idea of entering into a secret agreement with China that could compromise the country\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Any agreement with another sovereign state should be known by the people, by the elected officials, and by the Senate, which ratifies treaties entered into by the government, he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt should be known by the local officials. It should be known by everyone. Because in that way you can\u2026 you are accountable. If it\u2019s a bad decision, you\u2019re accountable. Sabihin n\u2019yo, mali \u2018yung ginawa ninyo. Di ba? Ano \u2018yung tinatago mo, bakit di n\u2019yo sinabi, what are you hiding? Why was it secret?\u201d he asked.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Marcos also brushed off Duterte\u2019s criticism on naval patrols in the West Philippine Sea, saying it has \u201cno place in this very important and very precarious discussion.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t pay any attention to that,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he is baffled by the “secret agreement” reached by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, with China confirming that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5001"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5004,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5001\/revisions\/5004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journaldailynewsonline.com.ph\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}