AS the nation celebrates Araw ng Kagitingan (Working day of Valor) yesterday, Senator Francis “Tol” Tolentino invoked the sacrifice of Filipino heroes towards the so-identified as gentleman’s arrangement China has been insisting on pertaining to the dispute on the Ayungin Shoal, wherever the BRP Sierra Madre was grounded to serve as the Philippines’ outpost at the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“We want to protect our country. We can not give away our independence due to the fact of the reasons they are expressing. On the Day of Valor, all the sacrifices of our forebears, such as my family who have been in the death march, cannot be disregarded,” Tolentino stated in a statement with regard to China’s insistence on the so-identified as gentleman’s agreement.
“Our independence have to not be presented away, waived, or deserted, particularly when we take into consideration the legal rights of the future era. All those who are pushing that gentlemen’s settlement have no appropriate to choose for the up coming generation. If they want to give up the Philippine promises, it is very completely wrong,” the lawmaker warned.
Tolentino reported previous President Rodrigo Duterte had currently denied the gentlemen’s agreement with President Xi Jinping as a result of the former presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, disputing Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque, who verified the existence of the gentleman’s agreement.
As China and Roque claim, the so-known as gentleman’s arrangement was finished verbally.
The lawmaker claimed it should be documented with a transcript of the talks so that the Senate can ratify.
“If you glance at the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, they will have to be in producing, which the Senate will have to ratify. Except if you have a transcript submitted by the Division of International Affairs for the Senate to ratify, how will you ratify something that is verbal?” Tolentino mentioned.
He included: “If it is not in writing, it is not deemed as an agreement ratifiable by the Senate pursuant to our structure. So, what settlement are we speaking about?”