MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday said his statement about giving up the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) from Philippine territory was made in jest, calling it “highly hypothetical.” During a recent hearing of the Commission on Appointments Committee on National Defense, Marcoleta suggested giving up the KIG to more easily control the West Philippine Sea. “I was joking. It was a hypothetical statement when I said, ‘Well, you want to give up the KIG so you can encircle it.’ That was highly hypothetical. It was not even a suggestion,” Marcoleta said in Filipino during the Senate Committee hearing […]... Keep on reading: Marcoleta says remarks to ‘give up’ KIG made in jest