IT is certainly a testament to the incompetence of this government that its foreign affairs officials are either ignorant or confused about our reasons for asserting our sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal after China officially annexed it last month.

While it's not clear if the country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Antonio Lagdameo, himself wrote the Philippine statement on our claim over Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc to us, Huangyan to the Chinese) that he made the other day at the UN, or if it was given to him by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo or his staff to read, it reflects our government's confusion over the issue.