Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay should shut up and avoid meddling in the issues related to the West Philippine Sea dispute with China, Malacañang said yesterday.
“Sabihin mo hindi na siya SolGen. Tumahimik na lang siya,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
Panelo made the remarks after Hilbay called for a Senate investigation into the informal agreement between President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the fishing arrangement in the West Philippine Sea.
Hilbay, who lost his senatorial bid in the May elections, argued that the verbal agreement allowing Chinese fishermen to fish in the country’s exclusive economic zone was not fair and in violation of the Constitution.
Panelo, however, brushed aside Hilbay’s suggestion, saying his defeat in the senatorial polls indicated that the people do not trust him.
He said Hilbay and other opposition senatorial candidates have been “overwhelmingly repudiated by the electorate.”
“The issues they have raised against the President and this administration have been factored because ‘yan ang naging linya nila, paulit ulit na line nila against the President and the administration,” he said. “Eh tinanggihan na nga sila eh ayaw pa rin sila maniwala na hindi na sila pinaniniwalaan ng taumbayan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Panelo said the government is inclined to conduct an inquiry on the reported destruction of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea allegedly due to China’s reclamation works and illegal fishing activities.
Panelo said the concerned government agency should validate the damaged marine resources in Panatag Shoal and Spratlys Island as reported by local marine scientists.
A group of marine scientists had earlier warned that China’s fishing and reclamation works in the West Philippine Sea were causing P33-billion worth of damage every year to the country’s reef ecosystem. (Genalyn Kabiling)
