Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio says he has no problem with MOU which recognizes Philippine sovereign rights.
By Ellen T. Tordesillas, VERA Files
Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio said Friday China could be recognizing the sovereign rights of the Philippines in the disputed waters of the South China Sea covered in the recently-signed Philippines-China Memorandum of Agreement on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development through service contracting arrangements as provided in the MOU.
Answering a question on the vagueness of the MOU signed by Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, he took note of this portion of the MOU: “China authorizes China National Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to be the Chinese enterprise for each Working Group. The Philippines will authorize the enterprise (s) that has/ have entered into a service contract with the Philippines with respect to the applicable working area or, if there is no such enterprise for a particular working area, the Philippine National Oil Company –Exploration Corporation (PNOC-EC) as the Philippine enterprise(s) for the relevant working group.”
Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. discusses the MOU on oil and gas exploration with China in CNN’s The Source hosted by Pinky Webb.
I love it that Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin, Jr slammed Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo for saying Malacanang doesn’t really mind signing an agreement on gas and oil exploration in the disputed waters of the South China Sea drafted by China.
In a tweet, Locsin blasted at Panelo: “Palace Com doesn’t care if it is a Chinese draft? I fu*k*n* care! ”
Locsin further said: “A framework or architecture for gas and oil in our part of the sea demands the draft be MINE…MIO…FILIPINO. ”
Pres. Duterte and China Pres. Xi Jinping in Beijing Oct. 2016 state visit.
We will be watching out for the details of the agreement on the joint exploration in the Spratlys that is expected to be signed in the presence of President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping when the latter comes to Manila on Nov. 20 and 21. If there would be any agreement on joint exploration at all.
Duterte and his foreign secretaries, present and past, have assured us Philippine sovereignty will not be compromised. We would like to believe them but we are still concerned especially after the President surrendered to China the Philippine claim in the Spratlys with his statement in Singapore last Wednesday while attending the ASEAN summit.
In an doorstep interview, Duterte, talking about the three-year time frame for the China –ASEAN Code of Conduct for the South China Sea said, apparently referring to the regional military superpower :”You are there, you are in possession, you occupy it, tell us what route shall we take and what kind of behavior.”
Pres. Duterte receives Michael and his associates in Malacañang. Photo from Yang’s company website.
Things will never be the same between China and President Duterte after the latter’s unprovoked comment about businessman Michael Yang and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua at the dinner with officers and members Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, Inc. last Oct. 4 in Malacañang.
Duterte is now regarded by Chinese officials as a loose lip and untrustworthy.
They will use him to further China’s interest for the remaining time of the Duterte presidency, which is now uncertain in the light of his revelation that he had to go through tissue tests following an endoscopy and colonoscopy three weeks ago, but they see him now as “somewhat crazy”, someone they should be nice with but wary about, according to a source in the Chinese community.
Fresh from his “day-off” to undergo laboratory tests at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan, Duterte was his usual talkative self. His started with his maraming- beses- ng- bumenta line of setting aside his prepared two-page speech and rambled. He talked of the same things he had been talking even before Day One of his presidency- about his reluctance to run for president in 2016 because he had no money, his son Sebastian’s predilection for women, his wise daughter Inday Sara, his fight against corruption, etc. etc. . And of course his disdain for drugs.
Then, he mentioned Michael Yang: “Ito daw si isang Michael Yang na drug addict daw (This Michael Yang, they say he is a drug addict.)
Twice last week, President Duterte complained about China’s activities in the South China Sea- a stark departure from his pandering stand since the start of his presidency.
Always, he was all praises for China’s President Xi Jinping, who will be coming here for a state visit in November, for the military equipment that he said was used in the war against Muslim extremists in Marawi and for the multi-billion infrastructure projects that it is undertaking in the country.
Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in October 2016. Malacanang photo.
China’s President Xi Jinping welcomes Pres. Duterte to Beijing in October 2016. Malacanang photo by Toto Lozano.
All these efforts and pronouncements about joint exploration with China in Philippine territory is in connection with the state visit of China’s President Xi Jinping in November.
Xi is expected to proceed here after the summit of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders in Papua New Guinea on Nov. 12 to 18.
This was confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in his briefing yesterday. Asked how soon the PH-China joint exploration agreement would be signed, Roque said: “No time frame. But of course because of the impending visit of President Xi, I would say that it is anytime between now and the visit of President Xi. But it was not expressly stated as such.”
Months before the second anniversary of the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision on the case filed by the Philippines to nullify China’s nine-dash line map and other issues in the South China Sea, China commissioned a study which was completed in December 2017.
Published by Oxford University Press, “The South China Sea Arbitration Awards: A Critical Study” is an intimidating 548 page assertion by China of its ownership of the waters, reefs, shoals, rocks in the Spratlys as part of its claim over almost the whole of South China Sea. Front page of study
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque last Friday when he was asked by broadcaster Erwin Tulfo about the tarpaulin declarations that the Philippines is a province of China sounded like the Harry Roque of the good old days.
He didn’t mince words. He cursed abundantly. In one paragraph, he said “loko-loko”, “baliw”,”sira-ulo”, traydor”, and “walang-hiya” – words used by people feeling miserable about what is happening in the country to refer to President Duterte.
Asked about the red tarpaulins hung in strategic places in Manila and Quezon City with words, “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China” on July 12, the second anniversary of the Philippines’ victory in the case filed against China at the Arbitral Tribunal, Roque went ballistic: “Kung Hindi na naman sila loko-loko ay bakit nila sasabihin iyong ganoon. Kung ikaw po ay tutol sa Presidente, okay iyon, tutol ka sa polisiya; pero para bastusin mo yung bansa natin mismo ay talagang kalokohan iyan. Baliw lang ang gagawa niyan dahil araw-araw ay tinuturuan natin ang ating mga kabataan na kumanta ng Lupang Hinirang, tapos sasabihin mo na tayo magiging kaparte ng isang dayuhang bansa. Iyan po ay talagang hindi lang mga sira-ulo; iyan po ay walang pagmamahal sa bayan, mga traydor, mga walang-hiya, mga –hay naku, gigil na po ako.(If you are not crazy, why would you say that. If you are against the President, that’s okay, [you] oppose his policy; but to bastardize our country, that’s foolish. Only a fool would do that because every day we teach our children to sing Lupang Hinirang, then you say we are part of a foreign country. That really is not only mentally deranged; they have no love for the country, traitors, shameless, — (sigh) I’m so pissed off.)”
Well-chosen words that fit perfectly Duterte, who spoke about joint exploration in the South China Sea last Feb. 29 at the 20th Founding Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club in the presence of Chinese ambassador Zhao Jianhua: “Yung oil dito ang pinakamarami. Two-third sa amin, one third kayo, mayaman naman kayo eh. Sus, at probinsya na kami. Oh, province of Philippines, Republic of China. (The oil here is so much. We get two thirds, you get one third, you are rich anyway. And we are a province. Oh, province of Philippines, Republic of China)”
Pres. Duterte at the 120th Anniversary of DFA, June 18, 2018. Delia Albert is sixth from right.Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante.
In the photo of President Duterte with diplomats at the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, distinguished diplomat Delia Albert stood out because she was the only one who was not doing the idiotic fist pump which has become the signature gesture of Duterte and his sycophants.
Albert, who was foreign secretary in 2003 under the Arroyo administration (she was at the helm of the foreign affairs department when truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was kidnapped by Islamist group in Iraq forcing the Philippines to withdraw from the US-led coalition) has served the country with distinction. A career diplomat she was ambassador to Australia and Germany, among the posts that she had held.
Albert is currently senior advisor at the Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co.
Mischief Reef – lost under Ramos presidency
Scarborough Shoal – lost under Benigno Aquino III presidency
Spratlys including Sandy Cay- surrendered to China under Duterte presidency
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was being smart the other day when he challenged critics of the Duterte’s complacent attitude in the face of China aggressive moves in South China Sea.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano
At the flag-raising ceremony at the Department of Foreign Affairs, he said: “I challenge anyone of them, whatever their profession – justice, politician, newsman, journalist – if we lost a single island during Duterte’s time, I will pack my bags, go home.”
It is a smart strategy because if we go deep into the history of the South China Sea conflict, we will be reminded that it was during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos that we lost Mischief Reef (Philippine name: Panganiban Reef) in 1995 and Scarborough Shoal under President Benigno Aquino’s watch in 2012.
Others may argue that we have not lost Scarborough Shoal. But the fact that Filipinos, government personnel and fishermen can only go there with the permission of Chinese Coast Guard whose ships (at least two) are permanently guarding the shoal means that we have lost control over that feature 124 nautical miles from the shores of Zambales.
In the July 2016 decision of the Arbitral Tribunal in the case filed by the Philippines against China, it was noted that the shoal also known by its Philippine name as Panatag and Bajo de Masinloc is a traditional fishing ground of Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese fishermen and it should remain so.
