When President Duterte told the world Monday from the Batasang Pambansa that China is “in possession” of several strategic areas in the West Philippine Sea, did he concede control by Beijing and weaken the Philippine ownership case? Expect a debate on that question. President Duterte had said he would teach his critics a lesson in his State of the Nation Address. We did relearn one important point – that in a speech as potentially contentious as his SONA, this President should have weighed every word and not strayed too far from the carefully prepared text. But President Duterte, despite his arriving an hour late, still found time to meander from his script (his memory permitting), and ended up ad-libbing: “I cannot go there even to bring the Coast Guard to drive them away. China also claims the property and he is in possession. ‘Yan ang problema. Sila yung in possession and claiming all the resources there as an owner. We are claiming the same but we are not in the position because of that fiasco noong dalawang nag-standoff doon during the time of my predecessor si Albert, ambassador. If I’m correct. I do not know his real name. Tayo ang umatras. Pagsabi niya umatras, that was a kind of a compromise. Tayo ang umatras. Noong umatras tayo, pumasok sila. Marami na. That day, we lost the Spratly and the Panganiban Island. Iyan ang totoo. Walang bolahan ‘yan.” (Lifted verbatim from official transcript)

Pascual, F. D. Jr. (2019, July 25). Du30 saying China 'owns' WPS isles?. The Philippine Star, p 12.