In a statement, the former magistrate said there is no factual dispute that China took possession of the Scarborough Shoal during the time of former President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino, neither does the Mischief Reef during the time of the Ramos administration.
"Further, there is no factual or legal dispute that China seized Scarborough Shoal and Mischief Reef in violation of international law," Carpio stated.
Duterte has repeatedly mentioned in his previous address to the nation that Carpio was among those who let China keep its presence in the country’s territorial waters despite the existence of the 2016 arbitral ruling.
On Friday, his spokesman Harry Roque announced that he will be replacing Duterte from the supposed face-off against Carpio over the issues of the WPS.
This, despite the fact that it was Duterte who initially called for the debate, to which Carpio immediately responded.
"I will not engage in a useless exercise that will only detract the public's interest on the vital outstanding issues on the West Philippine Sea, like the President's continuing claims that 'China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea'," Carpio stated.
"This false claim is conceding more than what China is claiming – for China has never claimed that it is in possession of the West Philippine Sea," he added.
In the end, Carpio stated he is ready to debate with Duterte or whoever he designates on the "factual accuracy and adverse legal implications to the Philippines" of what the President claims.
Just shortly after Roque announced Duterte’s withdrawal from a debate which he initially started, the #DuterteDuwag immediately trended on social media platform Twitter.
As of posting, the hashtag is now the trending topic on Twitter Philippines.
