Carpio warns voters against supporting pro-China candidates
MANILA, Philippines — Voters should be “careful not to vote” Manchurian candidates or those who “are being used as puppets” by another country, particularly those who will do China’s bidding, according to former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
In a statement released by the Stratbase Institute on Monday, Carpio cautioned voters since “there is a country that wants to grab the Philippine’s maritime zones and island territories.”
“So, we should be careful not to vote for Manchurian candidates, candidates who will do China’s bidding,” said Carpio, who was part of the team that argued the claims of the Philippines before the arbitral tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
READ: Carpio fears PH pact on Ayungin Shoal may expand China’s reach
“And we have seen in the past, recent past, that there have been candidates, who, when they won, were favoring China against our national interest. So we should avoid such situations because we just might lose the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
READ: Carpio: Duterte gave up PH right over Ayungin in an agreement w/ China
Carpio said these candidates get financial backing from the Asian superpower so they would push for its interests once elected.
“Once elected, they will say, the Philippines has no right to name the West Philippine Sea as West Philippine Sea. Like [former president Rodrigo] Duterte, they will say, the arbitral award is a scrap of paper. I will throw that into the wastebasket,” the former associate justice said.
“Those are the words that China wants to hear. Duterte even said we have lost already the West Philippine Sea. China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
He did not mention the names of these candidates but dropped hints that they are “vocal supporters of Duterte.
“Although lately, because it’s election time now, they have changed their position and they even wear T-shirts saying West Philippine Sea. But we should look at their track record because if China has a hold on them, they will not be able to change their position,” he said.
Since early this year, the Philippine Coast Guard has been monitoring the movements of Chinese Coast Guard vessels unlawfully operating within the country’s exclusive economic zone and near Zambales since January.
Beijing’s continued aggression was based on its assertion of sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, as it continues to reject the 2016 arbitral ruling that effectively dismissed its claims and ruled in favor of Manila.
