Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Monday said the government supports the arbitral decision that invalidated China ’s claim in the South China Sea, but said it is not yet time to bring this up with Beijing .

Yasay clarified this two days after President Rodrigo Duterte said he will set aside the international tribunal’s ruling because he does not want to impose anything on China .

“While it may not yet be opportune to bring up the arbitral ruling, the Philippine government reaffirms its respect for this milestone ruling and will be guided by its parameters when tackling the issue of maritime claims in the South China Sea ,” Yasay said.

Duterte's remark came as a US think-tank alleged that China has begun militarizing the islands and reefs at the South China Sea.

Yasay said since Duterte assumed office, "one of his primary foreign policy priorities has been revitalizing bilateral ties with China ."

“Following his historic state visit to China in October, Philippine government agencies ? especially those in the political and security sectors ? have been hard at work building confidence and trust with their Chinese counterparts,” he said.

“This we will continue to do for the foreseeable future, until such time that we achieve a trust level that will allow us to discuss the more sensitive issues in our bilateral relations,” he added.

Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario criticized Duterte’s pronouncement he will set aside the arbitration ruling that ruled in favor of the Philippines .

“The foregoing declarations are most sadly being made after we had taken a firm rules-based position to defend what is ours ? and won. Now, we seem to be on a track to relinquish those gains that have been made to benefit our people,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

“Before it is too late, we have no other option but to posture ourselves strongly with responsible nations to continue to uphold international law lest we find ourselves in that undesirable place where we will be left twisting in the wind,” he added. DMS