FORT MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – China initiated moves to have Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV act as back-channel negotiator for the Philippines in the claims involving Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, President Aquino said yesterday.
Breaking his silence since the issue erupted, Aquino revealed Trillanes called and offered to be the country’s backroom negotiator to China at the height of the shoal standoff.
“What I recall was Senator Trillanes called me up and I learned he was in China at that time and said he was approached there, asking him on the possibility that he would act as backchannel negotiator,” Aquino told reporters in a chance interview here.
Aquino though did not mention who had approached Trillanes, and the senator has not mentioned any specific Chinese official either.
Aquino recalled that at the height of the standoff, there seemed to be “belligerence” on the side of Beijing, where talks through diplomatic channels apparently bogged down, prompting him to avail of Trillanes’ offer.
“In the absence of any other channels that were existing beforehand, and to peacefully resolve the situation in Panatag Shoal, so what could we stand to lose if we avail of what was being offered and listen to them? So that’s what happened,” he explained.
During the tension between Manila and Beijing when almost a hundred vessels converged in Panatag, formal talks were apparently going nowhere, Aquino observed.
“When the standoff at the Panatag Shoal occurred, the formal channel (of the Chinese) was very belligerent. It was in the tone of their ambassador that they were asserting their ‘indisputable historical right’ to Scarborough Shoal,” he stressed.
Aquino likened the standoff to the August 2010 Luneta hostage crisis when both formal and informal negotiations took place, in order to achieve a common objective where a settlement would be reached.
Aquino pointed out that he had to resort to backroom talks in resolving the territorial issue, particularly because he observed that views of “informal conduits” from Beijing never reached the side of Manila.
“I was surprised that the informal conduits ceased. There were no informal channels that were there before, eager to inform us what (the Chinese) wanted. They were all gone,” he said.
Aquino though credited Trillanes for what he dubbed as “minor successes” in the attempt to resolve the Panatag issue.
He confirmed that Trillanes remains to be his informal negotiator with Chinese officials.
“As of now, yes, he is but, I will have to talk to him soon,” he said.
Aquino said the reduced number of Chinese ships to only two from a high of almost a hundred in the disputed area was an achievement of Trillanes.
Aquino noted China sent so many vessels to Panatag Shoal while Manila only sent only a few.
“I recall that they (Chinese) initially sent 18 fishing boats that reached to 30, then they sailed off from the area. We could probably credit the efforts of Senator Trillanes,” Aquino said.
The President, however, refused to give more details, owing to the sensitivity of the issue.
“It would be awkward if I give all the details since they were informal and they could not be sent publicly before the Chinese… they have some considerations, particularly in telling their constituencies. I cannot elaborate on the details even if the issue is already over... We have to give credit to Senator Trillanes in his efforts to ease the tensions,” Aquino said.
A dangerous move
But as far as Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is concerned, Trillanes was acting on his own.
Enrile insists Trillanes’ actions were suspicious, especially since he has not reported to anyone the details of his exploits.
Interviewed over ANC yesterday, Enrile cited the notes of Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady of her meeting with Trillanes in Beijing.
In the notes, Brady supposedly said Aquino did not know what was being worked out by Trillanes with his contacts in China.
“That is a dangerous thing. There was no reporting done, continuous reporting. He was acting on his own,” he said.
Enrile previously revealed Trillanes had 15 to 16 clandestine meetings in China, none of which were known to him as Senate President.
It was only during a Cabinet meeting where Enrile learned about Trillanes’ supposed appointment as backdoor negotiator.
Enrile said his impression from that meeting was Trillanes presented himself as the best person to negotiate with the Chinese over the Panatag issue.
According to Enrile, he also learned that in some of the trips of Trillanes to China, the senator refused to have his passport stamped at immigration so that there would be no record of him leaving the country.
Enrile said he has not yet verified this information but it was enough to make him even more suspicious of Trillanes.
He reiterated his challenge to Trillanes to reveal the details of his trips to China, saying the people deserve to know if the senator has been serving the best interests of the country.
Enrile said the Brady notes showed Trillanes advocating the Chinese line, which was alarming because nobody knows what he had been committing to them.