After criticizing Duterte for 'junket,' Alejano offers Philippine leader rare praise

MANILA, Philippines — After criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte for his “junket” in Hong Kong, Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo) offered a rare praise for the chief executive for taking a leaner delegation to Singapore to meet with other Southeast Asian leaders.

At the same time, the opposition lawmaker urged Duterte to raise before other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations China’s recent actions in the disputed South China Sea, a region believed to be holding vast reserves of natural resources.  

Alejano said that a smaller retinue would always be preferable for as long as the transportation and security requirements of the trip were met and Duterte could still perform his functions effectively.

“I appreciate the President’s recent decision to take a leaner delegation to the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit compared to his Hong Kong junket,” Alejano said in a statement.

“Heeding to constructive criticisms is something to applaud for. This is the essence of expressing dissent – we are able to check the actions and decisions of our government officials hoping that they would listen and make changes for the better,” he added.

Alejano recently called Duterte a “hypocrite” for firing government officials for unnecessary travels abroad when he himself, his family and Cabinet officials went to Hong Kong without achieving anything.

Alejano said that Duterte should raise the recent unveiling of a monument marking its construction activities on the Fiery Cross Reef, one of the several features in the South China Sea Beijing has transformed into man-made islands.

He also urged the Philippine leader to raise concern over the recent reported presence of military aircraft on Mischief Reef and the installation of jamming equipment in the region.

“I hope he raises China’s recent unveiling of a monument in one of their reclaimed islands and the presence of military planes and jamming equipment as a grave concern in the ASEAN region,” he said in a statement.

He said that a code of conduct of parties to the South China Sea should also be tackled during the leaders in their meeting.

“I hope President Duterte would line himself with other claimant states in the South China Sea in calling out the illegal and destabilizing actions of China in the region,” he said.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Daily said that the marker was unveiled on Monday on the artificial islands where it had installed military-grade runways and structures.

Early this month, US officials, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, said that China installed military jamming equipment on two of its outposts in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.