IT's true, former president Joseph "Erap" Estrada promised to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal. My source, who is very close to the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, swears to the fact that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin advised Erap to remove the vessel, and out of respect for that advice, Erap was prompted to make the promise.

My source does admit that Erap's promise was never documented.

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