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MANILA, Philippines -- Despite the political intrigues spawned by the botched $329-million national broadband network contract and the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU), the Philippines’ relationship with China has remained strong, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said.
Both agreements involve China, with the telecommunications agreement having been forged with ZTE Corp., a Chinese firm, and the JMSU, also to be undertaken by the Philippines with Vietnam, on the oil-rich Spratlys Islands.
Allegations of corruption and irregularities have marred these two partnerships and have spawned protests that have revived calls for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign.
Asked to comment if these controversies have strained the country’s relationship with China, Romulo told reporters in a chance interview: “It is strong. We have a good relationship. If we continue to work together, it will even be better.”
The country’s chief diplomat said the controversy generated by JMSU or the so-called Spratlys agreement was “part of the political intrigue,” and maintained that it was aboveboard and did not weaken the Philippines’ claim over the disputed islands.
Calling the JMSU a confidence-building measure, Romulo said it had kept the peace in the Southeast Asian region.
“This is a confidence-building measure that will bring countries of Southeast Asia together. In fact, we’ve had relative peace in this part of the world. We have to maintain that by having this confidence-building [activity],” he said.
Romulo also explained that the agreement did not involve exploration of natural resources, a violation of the Philippine Constitution.
“[The JMSU] involves pre-exploration. It is a seismic undertaking and we do that with other countries. I think we have to see what’s under there so it can be developed for our people,” he said.
He said that if oil would be found in that area, any follow-up agreements would have to be “within our constitutional parameters, within our laws.”
Romulo cited an opinion of the Department of Justice which concluded that the JMSU was “legal, valid, and constitutional.”
“Those who do not believe so can go to court because that’s the proper venue to adjudicate differences. The DOJ opinion, as lawyer I know, is the law of the land until the Supreme Court says otherwise. Any question [regarding the Spratlys deal] should be brought to court,” he said.
Without addressing his appeal to anyone specific, the foreign affairs secretary asked for less politics so that this relationship would grow stronger.
“We have good relations with China. I hope all of us will cooperate to improve and strengthen this… It is time to work together to cooperate to move the country forward… I take this is as an opportunity for us to look forward to work together. Less politics will help our economy and our people,” he said.
Romulo said that he had not received any indication from China that it had been dissatisfied with the controversies generated by its various agreements with the Philippines.
On the cancelled NBN agreement that was meant to connect all government offices electronically, Romulo maintained that the contract was negotiated with “transparency [and] was fully accounted for [because] I do not believe what appears in the papers.”
