President Rodrigo Duterte should be allowed to "privately" deal with Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea, Malacanang said on Thursday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a televised press briefing, said that diplomacy is one of the exceptions to freedom of information.

"Whatever the President is doing, let's allow him to do it in a private manner because it is not necessary to announce to the public what are the diplomatic initiatives and steps being undertaken by the President," he said when asked how Duterte will use his friendship with China to address the latter's continued incursion in the West Philippine Sea.

"Needless to say, that's covered by the exception because the President must take the right decision no matter what. So, let's leave the President to his devices," he said.

Roque noted that for the past five years, the Duterte administration was able to move the relationship of the Philippines and China from "antagonism" to a "position of friendship."

He added that Manila has been benefiting a lot from its good relationship with Beijing.

The bilateral ties between the Philippines and China soured during the Aquino administration, especially after it brought a petition before a United Nations Arbitral Tribunal in 2014 to invalidate China's historic and sovereign claims in almost the entire South China Sea.

When Duterte assumed office in 2016, he decided to put at the back burner the ruling of the arbitral tribunal against China.

But recently, China has deployed ships near Julian Felipe Reef, in an area within the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

Despite repeated demand and filing of diplomatic protests by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese vessels have remained defiant to leave the place.

On proposal for the Philippines to build inexpensive structures in marine features in the Spratly Islands and Pagkakaisa Bank to prevent other countries from occupying those areas, Roque said, "We remain committed to the codification of a Code of Conduct (in the South China Sea), so that's the direction." Celerina Monte/DMS