Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Sen. Erwin Tulfo disclosed that he and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan agreed to prioritize diplomatic meetings over public exchanges following tensions over the West Philippine Sea. Tulfo met with Jing and Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro amid a word war sparked by remarks and a caricature of Chinese President Xi Jinping made by Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela. "Well, it was productive. There's an executive branch, there's a legislative branch," he said. He underscored that freedom of speech is protected in the Philippines, even when it involves criticism or caricatures of leaders. "I said, in our country, there is democracy. Whatever you say to the leader, whatever you do, whether it's a caricature or you burn him, we don't have problems with that," he added, noting that other countries may impose stricter rules on speech against their leaders. Tulfo observed that tensions between Philippine and Chinese officials have eased in recent days. He also revealed that a proposed Code of Conduct covering the West Philippine Sea involving the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei may be finalized within the year. "I agree that I hope it's always like that, just meetings, to advance further this better relations between Philippines and China," Tulfo said. The senator noted that embassy spokespersons who previously engaged lawmakers in public exchanges were not present during the meeting. "That's all we discussed," Tulfo said. Tulfo also stressed that he explained the Philippines' democratic system and its protection of free speech, particularly in relation to Tarriela's statements. "They already know and I told them that Tarriela is under the executive, we are in the legislative," he explained. In addition, a memorandum of understanding between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Chinese Coast Guard is expected to return to Manila by the end of March. The proposed agreement would shift interactions at sea toward cooperation, including joint patrols, search and rescue operations, and environmental clean-up efforts. Tulfo said China appears open to signing the Code of Conduct, noting its participation in related meetings. "They are open to sign and seem interested... all the parties — Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, us — are amenable to the Code of Conduct," he said. "The ambassador acknowledged he could not interfere with a Senate resolution addressing the issue. That's the Senate's right, the right of the senators to reply. Both of us agreed that continuous diplomatic meetings are open rather than public discourse, rather than having shouting matches on-air, social media, newspaper. That's a different system of government we have here."
