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President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he would be likely discussing the territorial disputes at the South China Sea in his state visit to Japan next week.

"My talks with the Japanese government, particular with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, would really be mostly be on economic cooperation and shared interests. The most important thing ,” the president said in a news briefing in Davao City on Friday night after arriving from his state visits in China and Brunei .

"I have to wait until I meet (Prime) Minister Abe on what would be really be talking about. But the South China Sea has been in contention in several other countries vis a vis against China ," he said.

In 2013, a year after Chinese fishing vessels entered Scarborough Shoal and prevented Filipinos from fishing there, the Philippines filed a complaint against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Last July, the court said China ’s basis for claiming nearly all of the South China Sea under its nine-dash line has no legal basis.

China has refused to honor the decision and Filipinos are still unable to fish in the area,

Duterte said “the award to my country was in the arbitral decision and it said that piece of

property there, if at all, is really part of our exclusive economic zone. that has nothing to do with territorial waters but if you are entitled to a fishpond as agreed upon by all that each country shall own a fishpond of its own for its sustenance.”

“That is what is being talked about in that judgment. i told everybody and I told China I cannot surrender anything there,” said Duterte.

In passing, he said Chinese officials told him they also don't want trouble.

"I would tell your minister that we can only agree to talk peacefully, resolve the dispute and maybe come up with something that is good for everybody," Duterte said.

"Since I have to talk to (Prime) Minister Abe, I cannot make projections of what will happen."

To the Chinese government, he said they will find a way to talk about the South China Sea disputes.

"It could be bilateral, depends on the development. It could be multilateral and that would include Japan . Those are what I suggested in the future,” he said. Emmanuel Tupas/DMS