The current diplomatic handling of the territorial dispute with China has benefited the Philippines, unlike the “loud” and “aggressive” approach taken by the previous Aquino administration, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said yesterday. “When President Duterte came in, Philippines was speaking loudly, and maybe correctly so at that time against China, and harnessing public support and internationalizing the issues, (while) China on the other hand was gaining ground... completely controlling Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal and then of course the building and everything,” Cayetano said in an interview with CNN Philippines. “The Aquino strategy is loud but what’s the end?” he said.

Flores, H. (2018, June 16). Cayetano: Duterte’s handling of dispute with China ‘beneficial’. The Philippine Star, p. 10.