Retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio has started a signature campaign demanding that President Duterte retract his statements deemed detrimental to the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The Change.org petition is titled “President Duterte should RETRACT his damaging statements on the WPS.” Carpio is petitioning Duterte “on behalf of the Filipino people” to retract the following statements: the July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award is “just a scrap of paper that deserves to be thrown to the wastebasket;” “Chinese fishermen can fish in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea” and “China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea.”

Flores, H. (2021, May 15). Signature drive asks Rody to retract WPS statements. The Philippine Star, p. 2.