Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who contributed immensely to our winning our arbitration suit against China’s “nine-dash line” maritime claim, wants President Rodrigo Duterte to shut up. Justice Carpio asked the President to take care in speaking on territorial issues, to avoid explicitly or implicitly relinquishing sovereign claims and rights. As head of state, President Duterte speaks for the Republic. Hence, if he says, for instance, that the Philippines can do nothing about construction and other actions by China on Scarborough or Panatag Shoal, it could be construed as giving up our claim.

Saludo, R. (2017, March 23). How to defend Panatag Shoal. The Manila Times, pp. A1, A5.