“Enrile said the other day that the MDT, which covers the Pacific theater, does not apply to the South China Sea,” Carpio said in a message sent to GMA News Online. It was the same statement he sent to an Ateneo Viber group.“This contradicts his statement in 1992, published in Manila Bulletin, explaining that the 1979 Memo of Sec. Cyrus Vance means the MDT applies to the South China Sea,” he added.
Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario (DFA file photo)
In a statement, Del Rosario said such a debate, which Roque is “endeavoring to promote”, is not the best way to spend the time of Filipinos since “it will only manifest to the world that we are not united and we do not know what we are doing”.
The former DFA secretary, who was one of the architects of the Arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, even questioned Roque’s credibility as a spokesperson for President Duterte.
“We are made to understand, however, that Secretary Roque’s own department is undergoing serious credibility challenges. The question arises – Is the problem with the marketer, or is it the product, or both?” he said.