Villanueva calls China's Ayungin deal claim propaganda

Updated Wed, April 17, 2024 at 4:37 PM Published Tue, April 16, 2024 at 3:13 PM

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva asserts that the alleged "gentleman's agreement" between the Philippines and China concerning Ayungin Shoal during the Duterte administration is merely Chinese propaganda.

Villanueva urged Filipinos to disregard China's narrative and unite in defending the country's exclusive economic zone and the arbitral ruling.

He questioned the agreement's validity due to a lack of documented evidence for its implementability, believing China uses it to sow division.

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque claimed the agreement involved the Philippines refraining from bringing construction and repair materials to the BRP Sierra Madre.

Duterte had admitted to agreeing to "maintain the status quo" but insisted the Philippines did not "concede" anything.

China has used this alleged promise to justify its harassment of Filipino resupply boats, including the use of water cannons.

Topics in this story

Explore more stories about these topics.

Rodrigo Duterte China Harry Roque Joel Villanueva Ayungin Shoal BRP Sierra Madre

🤖

This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.

News Sources

See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.