By Mar Gabriel
Eagle News Service
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, May 15, may ride a jet ski to the Philippine Rise on the day the country marks the first year since it renamed the vast undersea plateau in Aurora province.
When he was still a candidate for the presidency in 2016, the President had promised to ride the vehicle to the South China Sea when asked how he would handle China and its alleged “expansionism.”
“I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest point in South China Sea that is tolerable to them and I will ride a jet ski. I will carry a flag and when I reach Spratlys, I will erect the Filipino flag,” Duterte had said.
He later said this was only a joke.
Apart from Duterte, government officials may also jet ski to the area, which China has said houses “Chinese second-chain islands” even after the United Nations’ approval of the Philippines’ claim over the Rise in April 2012.
Expected to attend the ceremonies were Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
The presidential chopper is expected to land here on the deck of BRP Davao del Sur, which is currently off the waters of Casiguran, Aurora, around 2 p.m.
Simultaneous with the celebration, the President is also expected to launch the very first all-Filipino maritime scientific research exploration in the Philippine Rise.
