Duterte slams critics as he invokes Philippine-US defence pact over South China Sea dispute

Responding to accusations he has been too soft on China, the president called for the US to ‘gather their fleet’ in the disputed waterway

Duterte insisted that the Philippines was still the ‘owner’ of the West Philippine Sea, as it is known in the country

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An activist protests against the alleged sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese vessel at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:05pm, 17 Jul 2019Updated: 3:10pm, 13 Dec 2019

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at his detractors on Wednesday, accusing them of pushing him to war with Beijing over disputes in the South China Sea, as he invoked a defence treaty with the United States.

“Now, I’m calling America, I am invoking the Philippine-US pact. I would like America to gather all their Seventh Fleet in front of China,” Duterte said in a television interview.

He added that he would go on board with his critics, including Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Albert del Rosario, the former foreign affairs chief.

There was no immediate response from the US. On Thursday, Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said the leader was being sarcastic.

He said what he said, Panelo continued, to put “into absurdity the criticism by the critics and detractors – and challenging them that in the event of any armed attack and the treaty will be operational, then these critics and detractors ... should go with him in defending the West Philippine Sea.”

Manila and Washington’s 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty allows either parties to assist the other in the event of attacks on its metropolitan territory, island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific or on its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.