Ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s South China Sea ‘deal’ with Xi Jinping sparks calls for treason charges
- Several prominent Filipinos say the deal has effectively handed control of the Second Thomas Shoal to China
- Beijing’s recent aggressive moves in the South China Sea could be due to its impression that the deal was violated, an analyst says
Antonio Carpio, a former associate justice of the Supreme Court, told reporters on Friday that Duterte’s “status quo deal” has in effect given China control over the Second Thomas Shoal – a maritime landmark in the South China Sea where Manila grounded a WWII-era vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre, to strengthen its claims over the surrounding waters.
Carpio said he supported a legislative inquiry proposed by lawmakers to look into the deal, which he said was “against the national interest”.
“I agree with the inquiry to be able to craft a law that would mete out imprisonment to those who commit treason during peacetime. There is a gap in the law. We have to bridge that gap so that people like Duterte won’t do such things,” Carpio said.
However, the former president admitted to agreeing with Xi not to build new facilities in the disputed waters to maintain the status quo. On the BRP Sierra Madre, Duterte said food and water could be sent to the sailors deployed at the ship but not materials that could be used to rebuild or reinforce it.