President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday that the United States is scared of the idea of declaring war with China over the dispute in the West Philippine Sea, saying the cause is not worth sparking a third world war.
In his speech during ruling PDP-LABAN’s campaign rally in Agusan del Norte, Duterte also called former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario “stupid.”
“America is scared of war against China over sea dispute, the excuse is not enough …not worth it. If Beijing attacks us, America will help and it could spark a world war,” Duterte said in Cebuano.
On the other hand, Duterte blamed former President Benigno Aquino III and Del Rosario for mishandling the Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012, and the Philippines lost the fight for the shoal.
“Aquino and Del Rosario keep on harping the arbitral ruling against China. But if you go back in time to where the Scarborough dispute started, there was a standoff. China sent ships and the Philippines did, too.
“Stupid Del Rosario ordered the withdrawal of our ship. China did not follow suit. That is why Aquino’s administration brought China before the international arbitral court,” Duterte said.
He added that while the arbitral court was hearing the case, China kept on sending its vessels to Scarborough Shoal.
Duterte has shelved the arbitral ruling invalidating China’s excessive claim over the West Philippine Sea, even as he insist on faulting Aquino and Del Rosario for losing the Scarborough Shoal to China.
source: LBG, GMA News
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