Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. yesterday brushed aside a purported secret recording of a phone conversation between a Filipino military official and a Chinese diplomat on resolving the issue of Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

The purported recording was released by the Chinese Embassy in Manila to back its claim that a “new model” in resolving issues at Ayungin Shoal had been reached between Manila and Beijing.

Teodoro raised doubts about the “authenticity” of the supposed phone conversation between Western Command (WesCom) chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos and an unnamed Chinese diplomat, citing the “propensity of the Chinese government to engage in malign information.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the Maritime Security Symposium of the Philippine Navy, Teodoro said any such recording was against Philippine law.

In a transcript of the alleged leaked conversation, Carlos was supposed to have said that the AFP’s chain of command and the defense sector had agreed to the “new model” to peacefully manage the situation at Ayungin Shoal in the WPS.

Only President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) can enter into an agreement related to the WPS, or any international deal for that matter, Teodoro stressed.

He said that no member of the President’s Cabinet had been given authority to strike a deal with China, which had earlier claimed that then President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” on the situation in the WPS.

Anti-wire tapping law

If the audio recording were true, Teodoro said, China would be in violation of Philippine laws, particularly the Anti-Wire Tapping Law, for secretly recording a supposed phone conversation between Carlos and an unnamed Chinese diplomat.

“The Department of National Defense would let the DFA look into the matter,” Teodoro said, adding that the DND and the AFP will strengthen their operational security measures against Chinese disinformation.

‘Not valid’

True or not, retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio said the supposed “new model” was not “valid” as the AFP-WesCom under Carlos has no authority to finalize any agreements with any country without the DFA’s involvement.

“The WesCom officer has no authority to commit because, under our system of government, it is only the DFA that can negotiate and conclude treaties on behalf of the President,” Carpio said.

He said the Chinese embassy in Manila should be called out for talking to Philippine government officials without going through the proper channels.

“What China is doing, they will just talk to anybody and say, ‘Oh, the Philippine government has committed.’ That is not proper and it will not bind us because they are talking to someone with no authority,” he said.

Of no significant concern

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military organization “will not dignify the claim of the Chinese embassy.”

“China’s claim of an audio recording allegedly between Vice Admiral Carlos and a Chinese diplomat does not merit significant concern as it appears to be a malign influence effort by the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

Brawner pointed out that transcripts can be fabricated while recordings can now be manufactured using deepfakes.

“These reports only aim to serve as a distraction from the China Coast Guard’s ongoing aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

Purely coincidental

Immediately after the story on the supposed conversation between himself and a Chinese diplomat broke, Carlos filed for a leave of absence.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said that Carlos’ leave had nothing to do with what had transpired.

“Let us respect his reason for filing for a leave of absence,” Padilla said. “It was personal and had no connection to the supposed tape, it was purely coincidental.”

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres was appointed Wescom chief on 6 May, “in effect only during the absence of the incumbent (Carlos).”