Will backlash force Duterte to retreat from South China Sea oil exploration deal with Beijing?

The Philippine leader is willing to ‘ignore’ a decision on sovereignty claims by an international tribunal at The Hague so he can strike a deal with China to jointly extract resources

But in the face of a public backlash, his spokesman has now denied the president plans to ‘set aside’ the UN ruling

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:52pm, 13 Sep 2019Updated: 1:50pm, 12 Dec 2019

Two weeks after Rodrigo Duterte urged swift implementation of a deal between the Philippines and China to jointly extract resources from the South China Sea, the presidential palace on Friday suddenly seemed less sure of the commitment.

“Everything is still under study,” Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo told a local radio station. “Technical committees from the two countries still have to meet to discuss the terms of reference, conditions and whatever else the joint exploration will cover. There’s plenty to talk about.”

Panelo’s comments follow a statement by the president on Tuesday that said Duterte would “ignore” an arbitral ruling handed down by the United Nations in 2016 on the two countries’ competing claims to the South China Sea – a decision that favoured Manila.

“The exclusive economic zone is part of the arbitral ruling, which we will ignore to come up with an economic activity [with Beijing],” Duterte’s statement said.

That zone encompasses seas up to 200 nautical miles (370km) from a country’s coastline inside which it has the sole rights to exploration and use of marine resources under UN law.