During the campaign period for the 2016 presidential elections, now President Rodrigo Duterte said he would take a jet ski and ride to the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea and plant a flag there. His supporters were all praises for the promise, saying that he was the most patriotic person they had ever known.
Months after making the campaign promise, however, it seems that Duterte has forgotten about it and is even currently in Beijing, China to ‘make friends’ with the Chinese as his detractors claim.
So, what happened to taking a jet ski ride to the disputed islands to show the Chinese who is boss, anyway? Well, don’t expect that to happen, ever!
Before he flew to Beijing, the president told international media outlet Al Jazeera that the jet ski thing was just a hyperbole; though he is not about to drop the Philippines’ claim to the disputed islands.
“It was a hyperbole… You cannot expect me to ride [a jet ski]. I don’t even know how to swim. If it overturns, you lose a president,” Duterte explained. “It was a hyperbole to stress a point that we will not give up anything there. Nobody’s going to give up anything. Nobody in the Constitution allows anybody to give it up, including the President. It’s an entitlement… You can only negotiate to prevent a war. They invited me for talks, and I will go.”
But supporters think that Duterte is actually being clever about the whole dispute with China because even if the Philippines won in the arbitration case against China, the Chinese refused to accept the ruling, anyway. Also, if China ever declares war against the Philippines, we would be easily annihilated quite easily as they do have the power and machinery to do it.
So, do you still think that the president should take that jet ski ride to the disputed islands and plant a flag there to bait China?
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