PRESIDENT Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to arrive at a consensus on how to move forward on the 60-40 joint oil exploration deal in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines’s top envoy to China said.
The President was scheduled to meet with President Xi on Thursday night in a bid to raise directly the arbitral ruling which invalidated China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea.
But prior to the meeting, Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana told reporters on Thursday that the two leaders may discuss the need to form a joint steering committee, as well as the creation of a joint entrepreneurial working committees composed of companies which will engage in the said cooperation.
“I think the President is very much interested to move forward on the MOU [memorandum of understanding] on oil and gas cooperation that was signed last November and I think the MOU provides a road map for moving forward,” Sta. Romana said on the sidelines of President Duterte’s official visit to China.
“You know, generally when you have two heads of state meeting, they don’t deal with the nitty-gritty; that would be done at the working level but they will at least come to some agreement on the general points, a consensus that they will provide the impetus for the working groups on both sides to continue and work on the details. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. But at least you know if there is a consensus at the top level it will help to push the process forward,” he added.
The Philippine envoy also said the meeting of the two leaders on the joint oil and gas exploration deal comes after the Philippines submitted the terms of reference to China and the latter agreed to it through the two countries’ submission of their notes of agreement last July.
The Philippines is in a rush to push for a joint oil exploration deal as Malampaya is expected to dry out by 2027, and pose a “serious energy crisis” as the gas field supplies about 40 percent of Luzon’s power needs.
While the area of coverage of the 60-40 joint oil exploration deal is still being ironed out, Sta. Romana gave assurances there will be “very intense rounds of negotiations between the experts, including those from the Department of Energy and the particular companies concerned.
“They have to come up with a contract. But the contract has to be in accordance with the Philippine Constitution and also with the Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]. And since the Chinese are involved, also in accordance with the Chinese Constitution, I think,” he said.
“So there will be protracted or at least intense negotiations on the legal points and legal experts will have to come in, and see how they can phrase it in a way that will be in keeping—that is acceptable to both sides,” he added.
Code of Conduct
Aside from the joint oil exploration deal and the arbitral ruling, the President also earlier vowed to prod China for the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, Sta. Romana also revealed that the President’s visit to China provided an “impetus” for the public apology of the owner of the Chinese ship involved in the Recto Bank incident.
On June 9, a Filipino fishing boat with 22 fishermen was hit by a Chinese vessel. The Filipinos nearly drowned after being abandoned by the Chinese even though their boat sank; fortunately, they were rescued by a passing Vietnamese vessel.
Sta. Romana also revealed that the public apology was also the result of intense negotiations between the two countries after the Philippines demanded it, since the incident had an adverse impact on the bilateral relations, particularly on China’s image.
“And I guess to a certain extent the visit provided an impetus because we were telling them that unless this is cleared, then it will come up in the discussion. I mean it could still come up but at least now on a positive note it’s really how to avoid for the future,” he said.
‘Reed Bank not part of Spratlys’
However, he also said the Philippines’s acceptance of the apology from the Chinese ship owner may be taken to mean that it also accepts that Recto Bank is part of Nansha Island Group, as stated in the Chinese letter of apology.
“It has— as others have pointed out, of course, it has a name that we accept —you know, Nansha or that the Reed Bank is part of Nansha or the Spratlys. That is a separate issue. And that is a whole separate discussion altogether,” he said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice also pointed out the error, saying the Philippines is not part of Spratly Islands (Nansha Island Group).
“Only China claims Reed Bank is part of the Spratly Islands [Nansha to China]. The arbitral tribunal ruled that Reed Bank is a completely submerged area, forming part of Philippine EEZ [exclusive economic zone], beyond the territorial sea of any island in the Spratlys,” he said.
Image credits: Mark R. Cristino, Pool Photo via AP