Experts warn vs PH ceding Scarborough to China, isolating nation

Captain Raul Pedrozo, deputy general consul of an agency within the US Department of Defense (left) and Dr. Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (IMLOS). KRISTINE ANGELI SABILLO/INQUIRER.net

Maritime and law experts on Monday warned the Philippine government against unwittingly ceding Scarborough Shoal to China and isolating itself by pushing away allies like the United States.

Dr. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea (IMLOS), told reporters that the Philippines should not be satisfied with “being able to fish in Scarborough while the Chinese coastguard are there always.”

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Captain Raul Pedrozo, deputy general consul of an agency within the US Department of Defense, said the China will be able to “complete the triangle of military control in South China Sea” if it is gains full control of Scarborough Shoal, in addition to the Woody Island and Spratly Islands.

“It is important that the Philippines stands its ground and not allow Scarborough shoal to be yet another artificial island of China,” Pedrozo said during his presentation.

Batongbacal and Pedrozo were among the speakers during a forum at UP on the maritime dispute of China and the Philippines in South China Sea.

China has claimed virtually the whole of South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

While the previous administration took a strong stance against Chinese incursion in West Philippine Sea or the areas claimed by the Philippines in South China Sea, the Duterte administration has agreed to undergo bilateral talks with China.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also talked about “separating” from the US and aligning with China and Russia.

Batongbacal said the public is unaware what has been agreed upon during the closed-door meetings with China.

“That’s why it is important to raise very early on these warnings so we are not satisfied” with just getting “benefits” from China, he said.

He said letting the Chinese coastguard control Scarborough shoal will be “implicit admission” that the Philippines has let go of its claims on the shoal.

Batongbacal said the government should instead do more such as resuming patrols and Philippine presence in the area.

“We should be clear that we are resuming our access there because Chinese interference has ceased. And not make any statements which would characterize that area as… that we have conceded some kind of right to China,” he explained.

Batongbacal said that while bilateral negotiations between the two countries were inevitable and expected, he was disappointed by the “unexpected terms to get to this position like alienating our allies and pulling back the multilateral (track).”

He said the President’s stance against the US was “too much.”

“The danger is that we will be isolated and left to fend for ourselves, really be more vulnerable to just following, going with the flow of China and the US,” he said.

For his part, Pedrozo said the Philippines can do away with joint patrols with the US if it wants to since it does not affect its legal claims to areas of South China Sea.

However, he said that joint patrols are an advantage based on a military perspective since “it’s much more difficult for the Philippines to confront the Chinese navy or the Chinese coastguard unilaterally.”

“It’s difficult for the Philippines to stand up to China by itself. You don’t have the power to do that. It raises the level of risk with the Chinese,” he said.

Nevertheless, Pedrozo said the US will also stand by the Philippines in accordance to its responsibilities under the Mutual Defense Treaty. JE

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