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Malacanang insisted on Monday the Duterte administration was not guilty of inaction over its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

In a radio interview, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said every time China did something, which could be a violation of the Philippine sovereignty, the government has been calling Beijing's attention.

"The truth is the government of President (Rodrigo) Duterte is not guilty of inaction. It's just we're not noisy, but we are acting immediately if we think that China is doing something against our sovereignty," he explained.

The second quarter 2018 Social Weather survey showed that four out of five Filipinos repudiate government's policy of allowing Chinese intrusion in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The survey showed that 81 percent of the Filipinos said it was not right for the government to do nothing about China's intrusion in the country's claimed territories as 80 percent want the military, particularly the Navy to be strengthened.

Roque reiterated that the Duterte administration has never stopped in fighting for its interest in the South China Sea.

Despite the July 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines and invalidating China's sovereign and historic claim in almost the entire South China Sea through its nine-dash line, the Duterte administration has decided to put it at the back burner and instead decided to pursue a "softer and friendly" stance with Beijing.

China, on the other hand, has continued with its reclamation in the South China Sea and even installed military systems in the artificial islands, including those within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

Some quarters have been asking the Duterte administration to make its protest written and not just through verbal and make those protests public.

Duterte has promised to take up with China the arbitral ruling at the proper time before he steps down from office in 2022. Celerina Monte/DMS