Expert group offers national policy on West PH Sea
An independent group of former government officials with long experience in maritime issues has recommended to the Aquino administration the adoption of a national policy for the management of the Philippines’ territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
In a “white paper” submitted to Malacañang recently, the group, headed by former Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani, said the policy should take into consideration the short- and long-term interests of the Philippines, the “fluid regional and international environment,” and the “domestic imperatives” that would affect how the government would devote efforts and resources in dealing with the problem with China.
The group submitted the white paper recently to Malacañang, Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of National Defense and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), among other governmental agencies.
Actions, strategies
The group recommended a “comprehensive program for international legal actions concerning the disputes, strategies for the management of economic resources, defense, as well as bilateral and regional diplomacy, and the nurturing of ‘archipelagic consciousness and identity’ among all Filipinos.”
While recognizing that a legal approach to solving the dispute is helpful, the group does not see it as the Philippines’ strongest option, as, according to the white paper, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) does not mean a coastal state has full sovereignty and control over the contested area but only exclusive sovereign rights to explore and exploit it for resources.
President Aquino himself appears to have realized the risks of bringing the dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos). In a talk with reporters during the 20th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders’ summit in Vladivostok, Russia, on Saturday, Mr. Aquino said all the lawyers he had talked with about the legal approach told him the Philippines could win its case against China in an international court, but it could also lose it.
That was an indication that the administration would first try other ways to at least ease tensions with China in the row over ownership of the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) and parts of the Spratly chain of islands in the West Philippine Sea.
Conflicting claims
China claims sovereignty over nearly the entire sea, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim islands, reefs and atolls in the area believed to have vast deposits of oil and gas. The sea is also home to sea-lanes where half of the world’s cargo passes.
Vietnam and China have fought naval skirmishes over their rival claims in the Paracel chain of islands in the West Philippine Sea.
In April, Philippine and Chinese ships faced off with each other at Panatag Shoal, a rich fishing ground west of Zambales province that is within the Philippine EEZ. Stormy weather forced the Philippine ships to withdraw in mid-June, but President Aquino said he would order government vessels back to the shoal unless the Chinese ships left first.
Three Chinese maritime vessels are reportedly still there, and the Chinese have cordoned off the mouth of the shoal.
Mr. Aquino had hoped to discuss the dispute during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Apec leaders’ summit on Sunday, but Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the schedules of the two leaders did not jibe. The DFA said the Chinese side had proposed the bilateral meeting, but Mr. Aquino returned to Manila without meeting Hu.
Group members
In a statement, Shahani said her group was formed because of the members’ “collective desire to assist [the] government” in finding a solution to the West Philippine Sea dispute with China.
University of the Philippines professor Aileen S.P. Baviera is cochair of the Informal Expert Group on West Philippine Sea. The members are former Defense Undersecretary Rodel A. Cruz, former National Defense College of the Philippines president Carlos L. Agustin, former Foreign Undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr., former Energy Undersecretary Guillermo R. Balce, UP College of Law professor Lay L. Batongbacal, former Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Adm. Eduardo Maria R. Santos, former Naval Attaché to the United States Commodore Roland S. Recomono, and former Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento Jr.
The group said its initiative began months before the eruption of the Panatag Shoal dispute.
Not all of the sea
The UP Asian Center coordinated the initiative, the group said.
The group distinguishes between the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea.
In the white paper, the group defines South China Sea as the “entire semienclosed sea bordered by China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.”
The West Philippine Sea, according to the group, refers to “only the part of the South China Sea that is the subject of Philippine sovereignty” or “jurisdictional claims.”
A national policy, the group said, should assert that the territories in the West Philippine Sea claimed by the Philippines are “part of national patrimony” and also affirm the Philippines’ commitment to resolving disputes peacefully.
Legal program
The group recommended that the government “develop a comprehensive, long-term program for international legal actions on issues relating to the disputes,” covering procedure such as negotiation of boundaries, arbitration and litigation international courts.
The group stressed the need for a strong policy in light of the shifting diplomatic relations among the rival claimants, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), and the United States, which has trade and defense interests in the Pacific.
The group recommended:
- The establishment, revival or strengthening of permanent, high-level institutions that will formulate, plan, coordinate and periodically assess efforts to resolve the territorial dispute with China.
- The development of a long-term program for international legal action on issues related to the dispute. The program may include the negotiation of boundaries, filing of cases, seeking arbitration or advisory opinion from competent bodies while creating favorable political, diplomatic, and security conditions for conflict resolution.
- The development of economic programs for the Philippine EEZ, including fisheries, exploitation of energy resources, exploration for other minerals, and protection of Filipinos in the zone.
- Development of the Philippines’ defenses in the West Philippine Sea.
- That bilateral and regional diplomacy pertaining to the West Philippine Sea should be oriented to the promotion of national security, economic development, and welfare of the Filipinos and should contribute to the strengthening of regional and international peace and stability.
The adoption of programs for the promotion of the Philippines’ archipelagic identity and of the Filipinos as a maritime nation.
