PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, June 6, admitted that he was not briefed about the incident where Chinese forces allegedly harassed Filipino troops in Ayungin Shoal last May 11.
Duterte said he did not the slightest knowledge about it.
"I don't know about that incident," Duterte said upon arriving from his three-day official visit in South Korea.
"What kind of harassment in the first place? Before I commit myself to answer the question, what kind of harassment was this?" he added.
Clueless about the report, Duterte said it would be "dangerous" for him to answer a question he just heard for the "first time."
"This is the first time I've heard of it. It would be dangerous for me to answer questions without really having the slightest idea of what it is all about," he added.
Duterte's remark contradicted Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano's recent statement that the President knew about the alleged harassment in Ayungin Shoal.
Cayetano, during a congressional hearing on May 31, said Duterte gave "strong instructions" to file a protest regarding the incident.
Duterte's admission also contradicted a report by the Associated Press that he was "displeased" with Chinese troops' harassment of the Philippine military.
It was opposition lawmaker, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano, who revealed that a Chinese Coast Guard vessel harassed a Philippine Navy ship carrying provisions for Filipino soldiers stationed on BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin.
Ayungin Shoal, which is 105 nautical miles from Palawan, is well within the 200-mile Philippine exclusive economic zone and is part of the country's continental shelf. (VoxPop Philippines)
