MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Sunday floated the idea of a “President Gilbert Teodoro” as he praised the defense secretary’s sharp rebuttal of China’s claims over the West Philippine Sea at a recent security forum in South Korea.
Lacson took note of the praise Teodoro earned online, saying that the secretary showed what a brilliant mind can bring to the world stage in upholding the country’s sovereignty.
“Imagine a ‘President Gilbert Teodoro’ alongside global leaders: the world would inevitably ask why a nation led by such a brilliant mind remains poor and undeveloped,” Lacson wrote in a post on X (formerly twitter).
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His post came after a clip of Teodoro at the annual multilateral security forum Seoul Defense Dialogue went viral on social media.
The video, posted on the X account of the Department of National Defense, has already earned 17 million views since it was first uploaded on Sept. 8.
READ: Chinese note interrupts defense chief Teodoro at Seoul forum
It showed a staff member handing Teodoro a note during the question-and-answer portion of the forum stating China’s rejection of the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling.
The defense chief proceeded to read the note in front of a live audience, criticizing the assertion and saying that China only refused to recognize the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) after it lost the arbitral tribunal.
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‘Basic decency’
“There is a legal principle called res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself. How can you deal with a country in an international forum […] disrespecting the organizers?” Teodoro said.
“If this is a Chinese position said to me, it not only disrespects international law, throwing Unclos to the floor and trampling upon it, but it also disrespects the basic decency that should be accorded to our most gracious hosts, the Republic of Korea and the rest of the audience here,” he also said.
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The secretary described the situation as “actual coercion, bullying and aggression,” adding that he will keep the paper “as a memento of how desperate China is and how ineffective its position is in the face of a free audience.”
Teodoro, also known as “Gibo,” ran for president in 2010, but lost to Benigno Aquino III, a second cousin. He ran for senator in 2022 but also failed. /cb
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