Padilla backs Duterte China policy, says ‘Tatay Digong knew’ risks ahead

Senator Robin Padilla defends former President Rodrigo Duterte's foreign policy and its relevance to the Philippines’ long-term stability. 

During the RAGE Coalition launch on Sunday, Padilla cited Duterte’s early warnings about potential oil supply issues, arguing that the former president had predicted the situation the country now faces.

“How can they say that the person speaking there is one of them, what do they call us? They say we are China’s puppets. But where are we turning now? Where are we running to? To China,” he said in Filipino.

In late March, the Philippines and China discussed the dispute within the West Philippine Sea, focusing on initial measures for oil and gas cooperation and addressing energy and fertilizer supply challenges arising from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

Padilla argued that Duterte’s leadership had anticipated these challenges and had sought solutions with a focus on long-term benefits for the country.

“What that means is that Tatay Digong knew, he understood, that one day, our neighbor would help us,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that any decision to pursue cooperation with China would be made strictly in line with the Constitution. 

“Any decision to pursue, structure, or conclude an agreement on oil and gas cooperation, with China or any other foreign government, will be made solely in accordance with the Philippine Constitution and the country’s laws, jurisprudence and regulations, and in full assertion of its sovereign prerogatives,” it said in a statement.

But Former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio earlier warned that the Philippines must reject any oil and gas deal with China.

Carpio said recognizing China’s ownership of oil and gas resources would effectively negate the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral victory under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which invalidated Beijing’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

“If we accept their terms, that means they’ve won already because we will be acknowledging that they own the oil and gas,” he said.