DND maintains: No internal agreement with China on Ayungin Shoal

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense (DND) asserted that it is “not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China on Ayungin Shoal” since President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. took office.

In a statement on Saturday, the DND also noted that it has not been in contact with any Chinese government officials since last year.

READ: Marcos ‘horrified’ by idea of ‘agreement’ between China, PH on WPS

“The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood,” the statement read.

“This is all a part of the Chinese propaganda effort to steer the Filipino people’s attention away from the real issue and cause of the tensions in the West Philippine Sea, which is China’s obstinate refusal to adhere to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), which they are a signatory to,” it added.

READ: Año urges Filipinos: Push back vs narratives undermining nat’l interest

The DND also said it would never enter into any agreement that would compromise the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights under the UNCLOS, as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling.

Last April 10, Marcos said that he was “horrified” by the idea of the so-called gentleman’s agreement between China and the Philippines regarding the country’s territory.

His administration also has no information or idea about the agreement, he added.

“We don’t know anything about it; there is no documentation, there is no record. We were not briefed. When I came into office, nobody told me that there is such agreement,” Marcos said in an ambush interview in San Juan City.