Vice President Sara Duterte and Defense Secretary Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. Maria Tan and Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday urged Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to identify the officials he was referring to when he said those who refuse to support the country’s policy on the West Philippine Sea should consider resigning.
Duterte said that since Teodoro did not name anyone, even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could be included in the supposed list.
“Siguro, para klaro sa lahat ng mga kababayan natin, dapat pangalanan kung sino ‘yung mga officials na tinutukoy niya na nagde-defend sa China over the West Philippine Sea issue kasi hindi pwedeng magbitaw ka ng ganon na salita,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City.
“Hindi mo naman pangalanan yung mga opisyal, at siyempre, suspek kahit ang presidente natin, kasali sa suspek doon kasi walang pangalan, walang listahan ng pangalan,” she added.
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Teodoro on Friday said he would not name government officials he was referring to in his earlier remarks, stressing that the Department of National Defense (DND) follows objective standards and requires strong evidence before identifying individuals.
“Naglabas tayo ng policy statement. Policy statement ng kagawaran. Ang kagawaran ay may mahigpit na alituntunin sa mga gawaing ito na ipinatutupad mula sa akin hanggang sa huling kaanib dito,” Teodoro told reporters on the sidelines of the 3rd Philippines-Australia Defense Ministers’ Meeting in Darwin.
“At dito sa mga usapin na ito, ang ginagamit natin ay objective criteria. Ang criteria na ’yan ay AO (Administrative Order) 29,” he added.
Administrative Order No. 29 defines the country’s maritime zones, including areas in the West Philippine Sea.
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Teodoro said the DND provides its assessment as a basis for coordination with other government agencies when necessary, but stressed that the department does not identify individuals without sufficient evidence.
“Ang pagnonombra o pagpapangalan sa tao ay hindi namin ginagawa kung walang matibay na ebidensya. Kailan ba namin ginawa ’yan? Alice Guo, Tony Yang, Sanjia,” he said.
The defense chief said protecting operational security, institutional procedures, and the reputation of individuals is necessary to maintain public trust and the confidence of the Philippines’ allies and partners.
“Dahil sa pangangalaga namin sa aming operational security at paggalang sa institutional procedures namin, dito nagmumula ang tiwala ng taumbayan sa institusyon,” Teodoro said. “Dahil ito ang isa sa pinaka-potent na institusyon at dahil dito ay nagkakaroon din tayo ng tiwala ng ating mga kaalyado dahil sa disiplina ng organisasyon para mapatupad ang ating mandato.”
Asked if he believes that officials who publicly reject the Philippines’ position in the West Philippine Sea can still effectively perform their duties, Teodoro said it would be for the proper government agency to determine.
“I already gave the objective standard. Now, who fits in or not is a different question,” he said.
‘WPS REMARKS BASED ON ACTIONS, NOT BELIEFS’
Earlier, Teodoro stressed that his remarks about public officials and the West Philippine Sea were based on their actions—not their beliefs.
In a statement released by the DND, Teodoro said the department uses “objective criteria” in dealing with issues involving the reputation of Filipinos.
He said the DND’s concern is with officials who both oppose and refuse to recognize Administrative Order No. 29, especially after the Philippines recently filed nautical charts for Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal.
“The DND works on objective criteria and no other standard in cases involving the reputation of our citizens. 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.
He also stressed that the DND does not label Filipinos based only on their beliefs.
“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,” he added.
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