The administration of President Duterte has not allowed even a single inch of the country’s maritime territory to be seized by China unlike his predecessor, the Aquino administration, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Saturday, May 1. Esperon made the assertion as he criticized retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio to stress the efforts of the government in protecting the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea. “Ni minsan magmula noong 2016 ay wala tayong nawawalang isla na kinuha ng China (Not even once since 2016 that we lost an island to China,” said Esperon, also the chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), at a virtual “Laging Handa” press briefing.

Sadongdong, M. A. (2021, May 2). No island lost under Duterte gov't - Esperon. Manila Bulletin, p. 5.