00:00China has accepted that the Philippines has a RORE or Rotation and Resupply Mission for the Philippine soldiers in Ayunginsho.
00:11The Foreign Affairs Department told the Camera that they will discuss this in their bilateral consultative meeting with China.
00:20Ian Krug was there.
00:23In the discussion of the Committee on Appropriations of the Camera,
00:27in the Php 27.4 billion proposed budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs for 2025,
00:33ACT-T-Church Partylist Representative Franz Castro highlighted the details of the discussion of the Philippines and China
00:40about the RORE or Rotation and Resupply Mission for the Philippine soldiers in Ayunginshol in the West Philippine Sea.
00:47According to the DFA, their bilateral consultative meeting with China started in January.
00:53When this happened in Shanghai, based on the invitation of China, but there was no understanding.
00:58So they invited the Chinese counterparts in Manila to continue the discussion on July 2.
01:05On June 17, a Filipino soldier received a letter from a RORE mission in Ayunginshol.
01:11But after the discussion of the two countries on July 2,
01:14there was a provisional understanding on both sides,
01:17which is the reason why the following RORE missions became peaceful.
01:22So the salient points of the provisional arrangement is basically,
01:27one, this provisional arrangement is without prejudice to our national positions.
01:33This is probably the most important provision of this provisional arrangement.
01:37And number two, this will be subject to review.
01:40The main point is, China has already accepted that the Philippines has RORE missions.
01:45There is already an agreement that our Chinese friends have agreed that there is a RORE.
01:55RORE meaning Rotation and Reprovisioning of Essentials.
02:00So the details of which of this meeting is I would really request for an executive session
02:09if the chair can approve because of the sensitivities of the arrangement.
02:16The committee will consult their chairman to approve if the executive session can be held
02:22before the proposed budget of the DFA is included in the plenary.
02:26So definitely, RORE is the only one that was discussed here.
02:30Definitely RORE.
02:32Okay, so can we be sure later that because of this discussion,
02:36the provisional agreement, there will be no more harassment
02:40or maybe an event to our fishermen?
02:46On the particular understanding, we have made very clear to China
02:51that we will honor the provisional understanding
02:55and we expect China to honor it.
02:57On this particular incident, what was really upsetting was the use of flares.
03:23On this particular incident, what was really upsetting was the use of flares by China.
03:29But anyway, we're open to any discussion.
03:33But at any rate, Scarborough Shoal is within our legal rights and sovereignty.
03:37We will always maintain that.
03:38So any talks we have with China, that will be our position.
03:41But it doesn't mean we're not willing to talk with China.
03:44For GMA Integrated News, Ian Cruz, 24 Hours.
03:52.
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