Panelo says calling him lawyer of Chinese gov’t is ”sheer non sequitur”

June 21, 2019

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Friday said calling him a lawyer of the Chinese government is "sheer non sequitur" and a "shallow" analysis of his examination of the Recto Bank incident.

This was Panelo's response to the recent statement of Senator Panfilo Lacson Jr  in a forum saying he is defending the Chinese government after he turned down the senator's recommendation on invoking the Mutual Defense Treaty for the incident.

"It appears that my good friend Senator Ping Lacson is smarting from a response I made to his proposal to invoke the Mutual Defense pact with the US in relation to the Reed Bank incident," said Panelo in a statement.

"He said that we didn't have to wait for an armed aggression to take place before we invoke its application. I shot down the proposal by saying that the treaty cannot apply, simply because there is no armed aggression committed by China, adding that it was reckless and premature because we do not know yet what happened at the Reed Bank," he added.

Panelo said "the senator was quoted as saying that I was speaking like I was a defense lawyer of China". 

According to the presidential spokesperson, Lacson went on to say he was excited pointing to some holes in the fishermen’s version of the incident.

"Thus from his perception giving the appearance of me lawyering for the Chinese fishermen," he said.

"The perception that my pointing out of certain circumstances surrounding the Reed Bank incident previously unknown to us, creates the impression that I’m acting as China’s counsel, is sheer non sequitur as well as a shallow analysis of my examination of the incident," he added.

Panelo said he was trained to dissect a situation, to arrive at an intelligent and rational study of the whys and wherefores of a subject of an inquiry.

He then said that the Reed (Recto) Bank incident is being "dressed with misplaced emotionalism and pretended nationalism by those who are bent on politicising an otherwise ordinary navigation incident into an international fracas". 

They hope to succeed in getting the approbation of the nation on a misguided theory that the Administration is pursuing a foreign policy of subservience to China, a belief that is both wrong and unacceptable," said Panelo.

Panelo assured the public that while the administration is friendly to all countries and enemies to none, they remain steadfast in asserting and protecting the sovereignty against any assault and/ or intrusion from whatever source. 

"Our sovereignty, we repeat, is non-negotiable," he said.

He said they maintain their stand that regardless of the nature of the allision, the government is condemning the uncivilised and inhuman act of abandoning the Filipino fishermen thereby putting them into the precipice of extinction after their vessel submerged. 

"There must be accountability and compensation," he said.

"Both countries must ascertain the truth of the Reed Bank incident and proceed to put to rest the conflict, consistent with the principles of justice and the law of the seas," he added.

Panelo said whether the investigation is done independently or jointly, their focus is to help the Filipino fishermen in their present predicament. 

"All aid to put them back in harness and to restore them from their displacement are being given them," he said.

The presidential spokesperson then appealed to the major players and kibitzers of the Reed Bank incident, to hold their horses and let emotions settle down, as the government pursue to find a satisfactory and principled end to the issue. Ella Dionisio/DMS