Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio聽 INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines鈥擭ational Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. on Tuesday told Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio that foreign policy does not fall under Supreme Court鈥檚 jurisdiction.
鈥淭he exercise of foreign policy is not through the Supreme Court. It鈥檚 not through the Supreme Court,鈥� Esperon said during the government鈥檚 Post-Sona press briefing.
鈥淚 think the honorable justice is a member of the Supreme Court, not of the executive branch that pursues foreign policy,鈥� he added.
Esperon issued the statement after Carpio, a vocal advocate of the Philippines鈥� maritime claims, refuted President Rodrigo Duterte when he said that China is 鈥渋n possession鈥� of the West Philippine Sea.
搁贰础顿:听
The Duterte administration has been criticized for shelving the Philippines鈥� arbitral victory against China鈥檚 expansive nine-dash-line claim to the South China Sea in 2016, in exchange for warmer trade relations with Asia鈥檚 largest economy.
Esperon also stressed that the country鈥檚 diplomatic relations with China do not 鈥渟tart and end with the West Philippine Sea.鈥�
鈥淢arami tayong tinitingnan, 鈥榶an ang binabalanse ng Pangulo. Kaya nga siya ang naturingan na prime architect of foreign policy,鈥� he said.
In his fourth Sona, the President defended himself from critics of his supposed soft stance against China, saying that he was only performing a 鈥渄elicate balancing act鈥� on the long-standing territorial dispute.
The Philippines, along with fellow Southeast Asian neighbors Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, have overlapping claims to the sea along with China.
Maritime peace in the disputed territories was again tested when a Chinese trawler rammed and sank a Filipino fishing boat in Recto Bank, an area within Manila鈥檚 exclusive economic zone.
搁贰础顿:听