Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday said the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” between former President Rodrigo Duterte and China, which was intended to maintain the status quo in the West Philippine Sea, is no longer effective.

“The president (Duterte) talked with the leader of another country (China), and stated that to avoid escalation in the area, the Philippines will only supply equipment, food, and water to [BRP] Sierra Madre. It was obviously a personal agreement; therefore, after his term, it is no longer binding on the country,” Pimentel said in a radio interview.

Before departing for the US-Philippines-Japan trilateral leaders’ summit last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took a swipe at his predecessor, Duterte’s deal with China.

Marcos said he was “horrified” to learn about the gentleman’s agreement between the Duterte administration and China and demanded both sides explain the rationale behind the deal.

Pimentel, a former party mate of Duterte before their falling out in 2021, urged the Marcos administration to take the gentleman’s agreement between his predecessor and China lightly.

“Our executive branch should not worry too much about this, just say it once and for all, it is not written, it did not go through the process of a treaty or executive agreement,” he said.

“Verbal agreements are no longer in fashion nowadays; there are many computers now. The executive branch can say that we will not continue because the previous president respected the deal in the past six years,” he added.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of China, pointed out that the current tension in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in Ayungin Shoal, which they referred to as Ren’ai Reef, was due to the current administration’s abandonment of the said deal.

“The reason behind the current situation at Ren’ai Jiao is very clear. First, the Philippines went back on its words and refused to tow away the warship illegally grounded there,” Mao said.

“Second, the Philippines denies the existence of the gentleman’s agreement reached with China under the Duterte administration and has repeatedly infringed on China’s sovereignty in those waters and made provocations,” she added.

She continued: “Third, the Philippines has abandoned the current [sic] administration’s understandings with China on the Ren’ai Jiao issue, sent construction materials to the grounded warship for large-scale repair and reinforcement in an attempt to permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao.”