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President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promise to go to Spratly Islands (Kalayaan Island Group) by riding on a jet ski and plant a Philippine flag there to to assert the country's sovereignty over the area was just a "joke."

Duterte admitted this on a pre-recorded "Talk to the People" aired on Monday night at state-run television station PTV4.

"I was not taking lightly the sovereignty (of the Philippines), but it's (riding on a jet ski) a joke," he said.

He said his jet ski promise was only a "bravado," a "pure campign joke.

"If you believe, including Carpio, you would say, you are stupid," Duterte said referring to retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio who has been critical of the President over his alleged siding with China over the West Philippine Sea issue.

In jest, he added that since the time he made the campaign promise in 2016, he bought a second hand jet ski because that is what he could afford.

He said he ordered for a spare part since then but up to now his order has not arrived.

Duterte even asked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana of the distance between Palawan and the Spratly Islands and the latter told him about 150 nautical miles.

The President said he was "plotting" how he could go to Spratly Islands by riding a jet ski.

But he said it would be impossible for him to go to the area by riding on a jet ski as it would conk along the way due to insufficient gasoline.

Headded that he was told that the waves in the area were as big as the ships.

"Do you know that I don't know how to swim?," he said, adding that if he pushed with his campaign promise, "by this time I'd be the late Rodrigo Duterte."

In their word war, Carpio has challenged Duterte to do his campaign promise to go to the Kalayaan Island Group and plant a Philippine flag there to assert sovereignty.

While he acknowleged the debt of gratitude with China for supplying the Philippines vaccines against coronavirus disease, Duterte insisted that he would not compromise the country's sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.

"I said it's never wrong though to admit a debt of gratitude but it will be wrong to use it as an excuse may be to retreat. I said there will be no compromise. Even if (Chinese) vaccines flooded us, this (claim in West Philippine Sea) won't serve as a payment," Duterte stressed.

In his previous Talk to the People, Duterte challenged Carpio in a debate about the West Philippine Sea, which is also being claimed by China.

Carpio accepted tha challenge, but Duterte later withdrew and ordered Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque to represent him instead. Carpio declined to debate with Roque.

Duterte said he was "not afraid" to debate with Carpio as they are both lawyers.

However, he said he forgot that he is the president and whatever he would say would become "a policy statement and I might bind future actions of the government when it comes to West Philippine Sea."

He added that during the campaign period when he ran for president, he participated in several debates already.

During Monday's "Talk to the People," Duterte even allowed Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo to discuss and apparently defend his stance on the West Philippine Sea and on his withdrawal from the debate. Celerina Monte/DMS