By el Amigo
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has pushed back against demands to identify officials supposedly sympathetic to China, saying the Department of National Defense (DND) evaluates conduct based on established government standards rather than political beliefs.
Teodoro’s remarks followed Vice President Sara Duterte’s challenge for him to publicly name officials he considers “pro-China.”
Rather than identifying individuals, Teodoro pointed to compliance with Administrative Order No. 29 as one of the standards relevant to the issue, particularly amid the Philippines’ recent submission of nautical charts covering Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal.
The administrative order, issued in 2012 under former President Benigno Aquino III, formally adopted the term West Philippine Sea for areas of the South China Sea located on the western side of the Philippine archipelago and within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
“In this situation, the standard is simple: who not only opposes AO29, but also refuses to recognize it – both elements being necessary, especially in light of our recent filing of nautical charts for Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag,” Teodoro said.
The Defense secretary stressed that the DND does not brand Filipinos based solely on their political views or personal convictions.
He said the department does not employ practices such as red-tagging or labeling people without evidence of actual conduct.
“In the same way that red-tagging and other such ad hoc practices are not employed by this organization, tagging Filipinos on the basis of belief rather than covert or overt acts is not done by the defense department,” Teodoro said.
Duterte had demanded that Teodoro identify the supposed pro-China officials after he earlier discussed the obligation of government personnel to observe presidential administrative orders.
“You can’t just release a statement and not name the officials. And of course even the President might be suspect as long as there’s no list,” the Vice President said.
Teodoro subsequently explained that public officials are bound by the policies and issuances of the government while they remain in office.
He noted that officials who are elected take an oath to uphold the Constitution and comply with valid government orders.
“If you’re in government, it binds you. And if you’re elected, you just don’t swear to the Constitution but to all administrative orders, because administration orders issued by the President are based on the Constitution and have the power of a law,” he said.
The issue emerged as Teodoro and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles reaffirmed their security cooperation during their meeting in Darwin.
The two defense officials expressed serious concern over developments in the South China Sea, particularly what they described as dangerous and destabilizing conduct by Chinese vessels toward Philippine ships.
They also cited recent actions by the Chinese Coast Guard near Ayungin Shoal that resulted in injuries to Philippine Navy personnel.
Philippine Coast Guard West Philippine Sea spokesman Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela separately said he does not maintain an official list of pro-China officials.
However, he said he has personal criteria for determining whether a person’s actions could be considered a betrayal of Philippine interests.
Tarriela cited among these criteria a refusal to take a position on the West Philippine Sea issue while allegedly spreading fear of conflict, silence over Chinese harassment of Philippine vessels and opposition to government transparency efforts.
The exchange also unfolded against the backdrop of China’s confirmation that two China Coast Guard personnel died following a collision in the West Philippine Sea last year.
Adding another layer to the territorial dispute, China’s state-run Global Times recently published an academic claim that Batanes has historically maintained closer and more integrated relations with Taiwan than with the Philippines.
elamigo/mnm
