Like other citizens, we wonder why President Duterte declared in one of his soliloquies on TV that the 2016 award given by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague to the Philippines on a maritime dispute with China was a mere scrap paper fit for the trash can. Was it executive privilege, a fit of reckless imprudence, a latent pro-China bias surfacing or something else so compelling that prompted Duterte’s unilateral declaration against Philippine interests? Loose lips? Another time, Duterte said China is in “constructive possession” of the disputed WPS area, that it completely controls the place and the Philippines or any force on earth cannot do anything about it short of waging war. Was this a virtual admission of defeat, of surrender?

Pascual, F. D. Jr. (2021, May 20). Loose talk on WPS tightens China's grip. The Philippine Star, p. 4.