Ex-Wescom chief Carlos says Chinese diplomat apologized to him

Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command Commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— A Chinese diplomat has apologized to a Filipino military general after their phone call regarding the West Philippine Sea has been exposed to the public.

At Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate committee on national defense, former Western Command (Wescom) chief  Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos identified his caller  from the  Chinese embassy  last January as a certain  “Senior Colonel Li.”

When panel chairman, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, asked if he had ill-feelings toward  the diplomat for making their phone conversation public,  Carlos answered  no.

READ: Axed Wescom chief: No secret deal in phone call with Chinese diplomat

“It’s  part of the  game, Mr.  Chair,”  Carlos said.

Pressed  if he did not text  the diplomat to confront why he exposed their conversation,  the former Wescom chief  said he did not reply to Li’s message.

“But did he apologize to you?”  Estrada asked.

“In a message, yes Mr. Chair,” Carlos said.

The military  official also agreed with Estrada’s  statement that  the diplomat was probably  feeling guilty for releasing their audio recording.

“Probably, that’s a reasonable assumption,” he said.

READ: Ex-Wescom Chief: I didn’t give consent to Chinese embassy’s recording

According to  Carlos,  he did not give his consent to record or release their phone conversation which was initiated  by the diplomat.

The phone call lasted for  only three to five minutes, he said.

Carlos said they only discussed  how they could ease the  tension at the West Philippine Sea, contrary to China’s allegations that he had forged an agreement  regarding Ayungin Shoal.

“Let me repeat I did not forge any agreement at the level and magnitude that would bind our two countries for the  long term and redefine foreign policy,” he said, reading a prepared statement at the start of the hearing.

“I did not enter into  any secret deals that will compromise the interests of our country,”  the Wescom chief added.