US State Department official (left) told Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario he got Chinese to withdraw from Bajo de Masinloc. He believed him. That’s how we lost territory.
In his 2016 book, The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, his only mention of the episode was: “The Philippines’ ten-week standoff with China ultimately resulted in its loss of the Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both countries.”