China’s embassy in Manila on Thursday, April 18, belied President Marcos’ pronouncement that he was not aware of any gentleman’s agreement that was reached during the Duterte administration with Beijing.
In a statement, the embassy said it even "repeatedly briefed" the Marcos administration about such an agreement, which had previously prevented the escalation of conflict between the two nations.
"In addition to the meetings of China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea (BCM), the Chinese side invited the Envoy of the President to China for Special Concerns of the Philippines to Beijing last September to discuss how to properly manage the situation at Ren’ai Jiao, which resulted in an internal understanding," it added.
The embassy's remark came after both President Marcos and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the current government is not aware of any gentleman's agreement made by former president Duterte with China.
The agreement that Duterte had with China was not to send more construction materials in the contested waters to prevent tension from further escalating, according to his former spokesman, Harry Roque.
Meanwhile, the embassy also said that in the early days of the Marcos administration, both sides even came up with a "new model" to manage the dispute after several rounds of communication, participated in by the Philippine military.
"Regrettably, only one round of resupply mission was carried out within the realm of these understandings and arrangements before they were unilaterally abandoned by the Philippine side for no good reason," it said.
The embassy did not provide further details about the supposed "new model" despite repeated requests for clarification sought by reporters.
The embassy urged the Philippines "to honor its commitments and consensus with China" and "show sincerity."
Amid China's aggression in the waters, the embassy also told the government to stop the Philippines' supposed provocations and "return to the right track of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, and work with the Chinese side to properly manage the situation at Ren’ai Jiao and safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the South China Sea."