To avoid further escalating tensions in the region, President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said Manila would allow Beijing to conduct innocent passage within the disputed Scarborough Shoal after the Chinese assured him that they will stop their planned construction of radar structures in the resource-rich waters. “You are free to enter—just inform my Navy. Inform the Foreign secretary,” the President said in a press briefing after a four-day official visit to Myanmar and Thailand. The President added that the Chinese authorities assured him there would be no construction on Panatag Shoal—the Philippine name for Scarborough Shoal.

Bencito, J. P., & Araneta, S. (2017, March 24) China ships free to enter Panatag if.... Manila Standard, pp. A1, A2.