Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Monday said the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China “co-control” the disputed West Philippine Sea, particularly the waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal, adding that Filipinos are now “free” to fish there despite the now widely-reported incident involving China Coast Guard members reportedly taking the catch of Filipino fishermen. “I believe at this point in time, may co-control tayo, because malaya na tayong pumupunta (we now have co-control, because we are now free to go there),” Mr. Cayetano told reporters, as shown in video reports by CNN, ABS-CBN, and other media. He added: “But definitely before President Duterte came in, it was controlled by the Chinese. Now, we can use semantics. Pwede tayong mag (We can) debate, how much control we have. How much hindi (How much is not) controlled.

Balinbin, A. (2018, June 20). Cayetano: PHL, China 'co-control' Scarborough. BusinessWorld, p. S1/12.