Phone call, yes; new model, no

Along with a flat-out denial of the alleged “new model” deal with China, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the former commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Command, hinted at a manipulated phone call recording.

China earlier claimed Carlos had agreed with a Chinese military attaché on a fresh paradigm to manage the operations and de-escalate the tensions at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Carlos admitted the phone call happened but no agreement was forged.

“It was Senior Colonel Li of the Chinese embassy,” Carlos identified the person on the other end of the line. “I received the phone call. I did not initiate the call.”

“We talked about exploring ways to de-escalate the tension in the West Philippine Sea, in my area of operation,” Carlos recalled at a Senate hearing yesterday.

“We did not discuss the term ‘common understanding’ [or] ‘new model.’ Those were not part of our conversation,” he stressed.

Carlos said the phone conversation lasted four to five minutes.

“We discussed how to reduce the tension in the WPS, particularly during our rotation and resupply (RoRe) missions to Ayungin Shoal,” he said.

One of the senators asked Carlos how both parties resolved to de-escalate the tension.

Carlos replied, “We were exploring ways to reduce the tension that heightened during the December 2023 RoRe mission where our supply ships were (blasted with) water cannons.”

“Did you allow the conversation to be recorded?” Carlos was asked.

He replied that he did not give permission to be recorded, which means the Chinese embassy committed wiretapping, which is a crime in this country.

Invalid deal

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the purported agreement between the Philippines and China on Ayungin Shoal, if it ever happened, was “not valid.”

“Well, China can assert they’re valid but if we don’t think they’re valid, then it’s not a bilateral agreement. It’s maybe China that thinks this was an agreement, but it was not an agreement for us,” Manolo said.

In an apparent response to the calls for the expulsion of Chinese diplomats, the DFA last week reminded foreign diplomats in the country to remain “professional.”

The DFA reiterated that “being a strong advocate of rules-based governance, the government is firm and united in respecting and upholding the rule of law in both the domestic and international milieus.”

“It is in this context that the Philippines — as a responsible member of the international community of nations — has consistently called for adherence to international law, including the United Nations Charter, the Vienna Conventions governing inter-state relations, and in the maritime domain the 1982 UNCLOS, among others,” the DFA said.

Wiretapping clear

“I had not given my consent to record to anybody and I had not been asked for permission to do so,” Carlos said, adding that there was no other phone call from the Chinese diplomat.

The former Wescom chief agreed to give further details on the operational concept discussed for the RoRe mission, which was the subject of the “telephone conversation,” but only in an executive session.

After the hearing, the senators noted the “apparent manipulation of a wiretapped phone conversation to make it appear that a secret deal was hatched.”

The senators conceded that China was capable of manipulating a recorded conversation.

“I am not authorized to enter into agreements. And I will never pretend to be my country’s authority on matters regarding policy and country-to-country agreements. That should have been obvious to the China officials, as it is obvious to everyone else,” Carlos said during the hearing conducted by the Senate National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation panels.

Carlos said the phone call with the Chinese diplomat happened in early January while he was on board a Philippine Navy ship conducting a patrol within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Carlos emphasized that he “did not enter into any secret deal that would compromise the interest” of the Philippines.

“I did not forge any agreement at the level and magnitude that would bind our two countries for the long term and redefine foreign policy. I was only the commander of the Western Command and not even of the entire West Philippine Sea,” he said.

“I had not compromised the country’s territorial integrity. I had not given up our sovereign rights and entitlements. I am a soldier for the Filipinos. I remain a loyal servant of the republic,” he added.

China trying to reach out?

Also, Carlos revealed to the committee that the Chinese official reached out to him two days ago.

“I did not reply. He sent me a message two days ago but I did not acknowledge it,” Carlos said.

Carlos was asked if the diplomat was “feeling guilty (about) publicizing the phone conversation.”

“That is a reasonable assumption,” he replied.

In a press conference, the Philippine Navy spokesperson for the WPS, Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, said there was no need to investigate Carlos’ engagement with China.

“[The] guidance of the National Task Force of the West Philippine Sea is that there will be no investigation, no need,” he said.

Meanwhile, the military’s public affairs chief, Col. Xerxes Trinidad, said Carlos was reassigned to the Office of the AFP Chief of Staff upon the release of a military order, which took effect on 6 May.

At the height of the “new model” issue, rumors came out that Carlos was relieved of his post, which the AFP initially denied, noting that he had filed a leave of absence for “personal reasons” on 3 May.

In an interview with reporters on 16 May, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. confirmed that Carlos was officially replaced by Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres Jr., but he did not elaborate.

DFA has no authority to probe

The DFA, meanwhile, said it had no authority to investigate the alleged wiretapping incident.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Manalo said the DFA would rather wait for the official report from the agencies investigating the matter.

“As I mentioned in our statement the other week, if we receive any reports on this from the appropriate agencies, then obviously we will look into the matter to see what we can do,” Manalo told reporters in a press briefing on Wednesday.

“But I also mentioned yesterday that the DFA itself doesn’t have the authority to conduct an investigation,” he said, adding that this has been the “practice” of the agency in the previous years.

He made the remarks when he was sought for comment on the reports that a diplomat from the Chinese Embassy had wiretapped his conversation with a ranking member of the AFP.

Defense Secretary Teodoro and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año had called for the expulsion of the Chinese diplomat involved in the incident for “potentially violating the Anti-Wire Tapping Act and breaching diplomatic protocols and conventions.”