A verbal agreement between the Philippines and China concerning the West Philippines Sea (WPS) would be invalid, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Saturday, April 24.
Drilon, a former justice secretary, weighed in on the issue after Malacañang denied on Friday that President Duterte forged a verbal fishing deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping as claimed by retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
"Sa akin po, hindi pwede ito, hindi pwede na may ganoong klaseng verbal agreement. Kung mayroon man, ano po ang sakop nito? Hindi pwedeng verbal (For me, such a verbal agreement is not allowed. If there is any, what are the terms? Treaties cannot be verbal)," Drilon said when asked to comment on the matter over DWIZ radio.
He said he agrees with Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, echoing that under existing laws, a fishing agreement must be in writing and can only be done through a treaty that is ratified by the Senate.
"There is no valid, binding verbal agreement," Drilon said.
"Kahit siya ay chief architect, kailangan anumang agreement ay sang-ayon sa ating Saligang Batas, sang-ayon sa ating sovereignty at sang-ayon sa international tribunal decision (Even if the President is the chief architect of the Philippines' foreign policy, any agreement he makes should be in compliance with the Constitution, our sovereignty, and the international tribunal's decision)," he pointed out, recalling the UN tribunal's 2016 ruling that scrapped China's sweeping claims over the South China Sea.
"Kung meron man, hindi po valid iyan (If there is any verbal fishing agreement, that is not valid)," Drilon maintained.
Carpio, in his newspaper column, said Chinese vessels were refusing to leave the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) due to Duterte and Xi's verbal agreement in 2016.
Duterte previously mentioned the fishing deal as the reason he could not prevent the Chinese vessels from fishing in the WPS.
Roque, on the hand, called Carpio's statement "without basis and is quite simply, a conjecture". But he said that that non-commercial fishing may be permitted in the local waters as part of traditional fishing rights.