MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Tuesday, April 16, said that the purported “gentleman’s agreement” between the Philippines and China over Ayungin Shoal during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte was just a Chinese propaganda.

“I really beleive so that this is plain propaganda by the Chinese government. Let’s not fall into their trap,” Villanueva said when he was asked to comment on the issue during a press briefing,

“[I] am humbly appealing to whoever they are, whether colleague in the Senate, whoever, to pause for a while and just think about how we can be united. We have a common denominator. No one could question our EEZ (exclusive economic zone), no one will question the arbitral ruling,” Villanueva added.

The majority leader said that China was playing dumb about the so-called agreement as if it was binding.

“Are they that naive?.. Somehow they’re playing dumb. There’s no document that states that it’s actually implementable,” he said.

Villanueva said the motivation behind floating the “gentleman’s agreement” between Duterte and the Chinese government was to “divide” Filipinos.

“They want us to fight. They want us divided. I’m begging and appealing to fellow stakeholders, lets put our acts together,” he said.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros had filed a resolution seeking for a probe into the “gentleman’s agreement” which Duterte allegedly entered into with China regarding the West Philippine Sea.

Hontiveros said that if the former president indeed forged an agreement with China for that matter, he is guilty of treason for surrendering Philippine sovereignty.

Reacting to Hontiveros’ resolution, Villanueva said that the opposition senator’s point is valid. He added that the Senate will tackle the bill first via executive session before they decide if this merits a public hearing.

“If majority will decide to push through with the public hearing, then we will push through,” he said.

Will the former president be invited in case? Villanueva said that if Duterte wants to shed light on the issue then he is welcome. “Let’s give some respect to the former president. Let’s invite him if he wants to,” he added.

Former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque earlier confirmed that a “deal” was reached between the Duterte administration and China to “respect the status quo” in the West Philippine Sea. But then another former Duterte spokesperson, Salvador Panelo, claimed otherwise, saying there was no such deal on Ayungin.

Roque would later “clarify” that while a deal was made, it did not tackle specifics such as resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal. – Rappler.com