Press Release
May 8, 2016

Sen. Trillanes' Statement re treason charge of Duterte in relation
to the Scarborough Shoal:

"It is primarily a misdirection. Duterte knows that my message struck him at the heart of his fraudulent image so he is trying to smear my name as the messenger. It also shows his gross ignorance about the issue. Scarborough or Panatag Shoal is different from the Spratlys or Kalayaan Island Group. They are hundreds of miles apart. I have been appointed by PNoy as a backchannel negotiator to deescalate the tense situation in Panatag back in 2012. I was able to accomplish my mission, within the authority given to me by the President and without compromising our territorial claim, which is now the main subject of our Arbitration case. Just to inform Mayor Duterte, there is no reclamation in Panatag and I have our National Security officials on record during two Senate hearings that we have not lost Panatag contrary to some unfounded media reports. Moreover, I don't have anything to do with the reclamation by China of some islands in the Spratlys because it came long after I have finished my job in the Scarborough standoff. On the contrary, I have been at the forefront of the AFP modernization and the immediate implementation of the EDCA so we could find some balance in the security situation in the West Philippine Sea."

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