President Rodrigo Duterte said he was unaware of the harassment of Filipino troops by Chinese forces at Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly archipelago last month, which Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the Philippines had protested. In a talk with reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night after returning from an official visit to South Korea, the President was asked if it was true that he was angry with China because of the incident. “I don’t know about that incident. I was busy talking to Korean officials,” the President said, asking what happened at Ayungin Shoal.

Salaverria, L., Pazzibugan, D., & Aning, J. (2018, June 7). Duterte clueless on Chinese harassment of PH troops on shoal. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A2.