Palace calls Joma Sison “aging armchair passe rebel” after accusing Duterte of bowing to China

September 2, 2019

Malacanang branded on Monday Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison as "an aging armchair passe rebel" following his criticisms against President Rodrigo Duterte for allegedly bowing down to China on the South China Sea issue.

Contrary to Sison's allegation, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte is serving and protecting the Filipinos.

"The Duterte presidency is engrossed in its constitutional duty of serving and protecting the Filipino people, that it has no time to waste in responding to the latest anti-Duterte statement of Jose Maria Sison, other than saying that it is another arrant raving and incorrigible ranting coming from an aging armchair passe rebel whose illusory vision has outsprinted the ticking hands of time," he said in a statement.

Singson, who has been exiled in Utrecht, the Netherlands for three decades, has slammed Duterte for allegedly bowing down to China and its President Xi Jinping and surrendering the country's internationally recognize sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.

"Duterte merely went through the motions of bringing up the decision of the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in his discussion with Xi. In the end, it was a purposeless exercise," he said in a statement on August 31.

Citing reports, Sison said there was no further discussion on the matter, noting Duterte "merely acquiesced" to the Chinese leader when he reiterated China's rejection of the Hague ruling.

Duterte had undertaken a five-day official visit to China where he brought up the PCA ruling, invalidating China's sovereign and historic rights in almost the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

But Xi just reiterated his government's stance against the ruling.

Sison also accused the Duterte government of entering into "lopsided loan agreement that will primarily serve Chinese interests."

During Duterte's trip to Beijing, he and Xi witnessed the signing of six agreements, including the loan for the project management consultancy of the Philippine National Railways South Long Haul Project. Celerina Monte/DMS