As expected, nothing came out of the well-scripted, one-on-one meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the issue of the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Malacañang mouthpiece Salvador Panelo described the meeting as cordial between friends, with China maintaining its firm position that it does not recognize the ruling rejecting its sweeping claim over the South China Sea. Panelo actually need not say more. Judging from Xi’s body language and his sardonic smile, he could have well said to Digong: “OK fine, now run along home like a good boy and tell your people you did your job.”

Del Rosario, A. (2019, September 2). Agreeing to disagree. Manila Standard, pp. A4, A5.