But Roque during a briefing broke from this consensus, saying in Filipino: "Because you know, [Julian Felipe Reef is] not even part of our EEZ, is it... In a statement released later Tuesday, Roque said Julian Felipe Reef "should be delimited under [UNCLOS] given the overlaps of maritime zones." Roque, however, insisted that he was not weakening the Philippines' position on Julian Felipe Reef. "It doesn't weaken anything because we aren't giving up our claim to Julian Felipe pursuant to Marcos appending Julian Felipe to the territory of the Philippines," he said. If Julian Felipe Reef is not within the Philippines' EEZ, Locsin asked: "Where the ef is it?"

Source: Philippine Star May 11, 2021 10:45 UTC