That ‘gentleman’s agreement’

Only by clearly seeing that the Duterte regime’s controversial “gentleman’s agreement” with China on Ayungin Shoal was a ploy hatched by China will there be clarity to the ongoing brouhaha. 

As such, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson, Harry Roque, 's revelation that there was a verbal “gentleman’s agreement” with Beijing regarding the resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre was no more than an attempt to amplify China’s ploy or worse, deviously trick the Marcos administration into taking the Chinese position.

This was an egregious attempt that was more politically damaging to Duterte-era officials than anybody else, particularly considering the agreement’s treasonous connotations.

So, in clearly moving to stem the political fallout, now plain citizen Duterte has since denied entering into a “gentleman’s agreement” with China.

Duterte, however, acknowledged a so-called status quo agreement that Filipino vessels could deliver “only water and food” to the troops on the grounded World War II-era warship at Ayungin.

Chinese embassy officials, meanwhile, haven’t categorically stated that there was a “gentleman’s agreement” between China and the previous administration.

Instead, the embassy officials adroitly use the term “understanding” when calling out the previous administration for its “promise” on Ayungin Shoal.

This was clear even early in March during a deep backgrounder session between a Chinese diplomat and selected Filipino foreign affairs reporters.

In fact, that not-for-attribution session set the stage for the “gentleman’s agreement” brouhaha.

Roque only revealed on 27 March after reports of the meeting with the Chinese diplomat surfaced.

In that deep backgrounder, a reporter recalled the Chinese diplomat as stating that “in the last two years of the Duterte administration, there was an understanding that the Philippine government will only provide basic supplies to the Philippine troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre.”

So what, then, presumably motivated the Chinese to hatch the controversy?

According to the same reporter, China clearly understood that a change in administration meant a policy change in the Ayungin situation.

“With the change in government, there will be changes. But we need to come to the table to discuss and reach a new understanding. That’s our practice,” the reporter quoted the Chinese diplomat as saying.

“But the problem was that this administration was eager to change. So it led to—despite our warning, I warned them again and again — I said, ‘No, before we reach some understanding, please be patient. Let’s talk,’” the Chinese diplomat further said.

Therefore, making public the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” or “understanding” clearly implied a preemptive move against the Marcos administration's plans.

It was also clear that Chinese officials viewed new talks as a way to persuade the Marcos administration to continue China’s arrangements with the previous regime. If allowed, this would have meant the eventual collapse of the rusty, derelict BRP Sierra Madre.

Marcos’s officials, however, definitely saw that the previous arrangements compromised the national interest since the government was clearly within its legal rights to refurbish or repair the Sierra Madre.

Besides distrusting new talks, Marcos officials obviously worried about the existence of other “surprises” the previous regime may have left undisclosed from its dealings with the Chinese. 

Consequently, Marcos lambasted the “gentleman’s agreement” as a “secret agreement.”

Mr. Marcos’ questions for Duterte on his “gentleman’s agreement” with China included why he (Duterte) kept it a secret from the Filipino people and what the deal entailed.

Full disclosure about what the previous regime agreed on or did not agree on regarding Ayungin apparently will aid security officials in thwarting China’s revived attempts at “gaslighting” the real issues in China’s decades-old trampling of the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), which a derelict warship has since come to symbolize.

The Sierra Madre was grounded on Ayungin Shoal in 1999 precisely because China reneged on its “promises” not to turn the nearby Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef) into a fortified Chinese military garrison.