MANILA – The Philippines’ top diplomat says that while he believes the West Philippine Sea belongs to Filipinos, the country’s territorial dispute with China may “not be resolved during our lifetime.”

Foreign affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. admitted on Wednesday that the country’s territorial disputes with China may not be resolved anytime soon or even during “our lifetime.”

Yasay made the remark when asked during his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments’ committee on foreign affairs how he thinks the conflict could be resolved under the President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

“I don’t believe personally, your honour, mister chair, that this will be resolved soon. I believe that maybe perhaps it will not be resolved even during our lifetime,” the country’s top diplomat said, responding to Iloilo City Representative Jerry Treñas’ question.

“But the option is not war, the option is not to engage ourselves in forcibly enforcing our claims in this respect so I feel that the tact under the legal and diplomatic processes available to us is to set to this aside. Maybe perhaps the future generation will probably be able to find a solution to this dispute,” he said.

Yasay noted that even in other parts of the world, there were many international territorial disputes that remained unresolved up to now.

“But what we’re really trying to be concerned about is that during the watch of the Duterte administration, we are obligated under the law to carry out an independent foreign policy making sure that its anchored upon the paramount national interests of our country and we feel very strongly that it’s not in our national interest to engage China in this war by forcing ourselves into a resolution by violence or force in so far as this is issue concerned,” he said.

“That’s why we’re pursuing the other aspects of our relationship to make sure that because of the convergence of our interests, we will maximise the mutual benefits to both countries,” he added.

While he personally believes that the West Philippine Sea belongs to Filipinos, Yasay clarified that the Philippines did not “categorically” claim ownership of it in the case it filed against China before the UN Arbitral Tribunal.

“The case that we filed before the Arbitral Tribunal, which seems to be the basis of people now claiming that we own the territory is incorrect. The case that we filed before the international tribunal is simply a determination of whether or not that disputed area is part of our Exclusive Economic Zone,” Yasay added.

New Delhi – An ATM in Delhi spewed dummy 2,000-rupee notes issued by the ‘Children Bank of India’, prompting an investigation into the embarrassing lapse, police said Wednesday, months after the government’s shock cash ban triggered painful shortages.

A customer care executive claimed he had been taken for a ride after the automatic teller machine run by the government-owned State Bank of India spilled out the fake bills on February 6.

Instead of the logo of India’s central bank, the bills were marked ‘Children Bank of India’ and on the other side with a cheeky ‘Entertainment Bank of India’.

“The case is under investigation. We have seized the notes and informed the bank about the incident,” investigating officer Upender Singh told AFP.

The dummy pink notes looked similar to the newly minted 2,000-rupee notes introduced in November after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to ban all 500 and 1,000-rupee bills.

A police officer sent to the spot to verify the claims also received a fake 2,000-rupee (S$42) note when he withdrew money from the ATM, Singh said.

“We are trying to find how these notes found their way into the system. The bank has also launched an internal investigation.” The fake bills matched the colour and font of the real notes but read ‘Guaranteed by the Children’s Government’ instead of ‘Guaranteed by the Central Government’.

The bills also showcased images of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi similar to the original notes but bore a ‘PK’ logo instead of the bank seal.

“I promise to pay the barer two thousand coupens,” read the mis-spelt message on the note instead of the statutory pledge of the central bank.

Such dummy notes are sold across India at roadside shops and are popular with children.

Modi’s move to ban the notes was aimed at ending large-scale tax evasion and counterfeiting of currency.

But the decision removed around 86 per cent of India’s available cash at one stroke, triggering huge queues outside banks and ATMs and painful shortages for hundreds of millions of people reliant on hard currency.