For the first time, Vice President Sara Duterte gave her insight on the ongoing territorial conflict between the Philippines and China over the resource-rich West Philippine Sea, warning the Philippines against taking sides in the United States-China conflict and advising it instead to “force the recognition and the implementation” of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal award.

This was the first time that the Vice President has spoken about the ongoing maritime issues between China and the Philippines, even going so far as to recognize the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal victory that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, said before was just a “piece of paper” that can be thrown away.

“We already won in the arbitral award. We already have an award from that case that we filed when using the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS). Nanalo na tayo dyan (We already won there),” she said, adding that the whole world knows about the arbitral award.

Duterte took the stage during the “Free Duterte Now” rally at the Parliament Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, addressing her family’s supporters there.

“And therefore, the only thing that you need to do is force the recognition and the implementation of the award through diplomatic channels. Hindi yong kikilingan mo ang isang foreign power, papasukin mo ang missile ng foreign power sa bansa mo na alam mo kinaiinisan noong kalaban niya, nawala ka naman kinalaman sa gitgitan nilang dalawa (You should not be picking the side of a foreign power, letting the missile from that foreign power enter your country that you know its enemy is against, you don’t have anything to do with their issue),” she stressed.

The Vice President was referring to the Typhon missile launchers positioned by the United States in the Philippines. The launchers can fire multipurpose missiles up to thousands of kilometers, something that China has warned against.

“That is not independent foreign policy. Iyong problema natin sa (Our problems in the) West Philippine Sea do not make up our entire relations with China. And so, therefore, there is no reason for you to lean towards the US. You have to always stay in the middle because you are not a part of the bigger conflict,” she said.

The official added that the Philippines should instead be “friends” with both the United States and China, as well as with other countries like Australia.

“So, I do not understand why is our independent foreign policy lost in the discussions. Dapat yan, kaibigan mo lahat. Wag kang kumampi (You should be friends with everyone. Do not take sides),” she told her supporters.

The Vice President further questioned what the Philippines will do with the missile launchers and who does it intend to use those missiles against.

During the Duterte administration, her father broke away from being the United States’ ally and instead forged closer ties with China, even going so far as to malign the 2016 arbitral award that invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the region.

The Marcos administration, however, took a hardline stance against China, bringing the arbitral award to the forefront of the conversations again, and filing numerous diplomatic protests against Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.

It forged deeper relations with the US, allowing for the expansion of the Balikatan exercises, and raising the possibility of purchasing the Typhon missile system from Washington.