Backyard Squatting Is Not Friendship

In an interview on the 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 by Christian Esguerra, discussing China’s defenders in the Philippine Senate, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio responded to Sen. Marcoleta’s remarks by offering a simple representation, stressing that China’s actions in our country’s own backyard—the West Philippine Sea—𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.

He further questioned 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬. He added that it gives the impression that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚.

Justice Carpio also questioned whether this is 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭—𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞—𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲’𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚.

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