No mention of sea row with China good–DFA

By: Christine O. Avendaño, Nikko Dizon - 10 years ago

DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario (center). INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario does not feel slighted by President Aquino’s not mentioning the great strides his department has made in finding a peaceful resolution to the Philippines’ territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Del Rosario said he thought Aquino’s focusing on domestic matters in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) to a joint session of Congress on Monday was a “great strategy.”

The Philippines brought its territorial dispute with China to the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Itlos) last year, becoming the first Asian country to challenge China’s claim to 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, or the waters within the Philippines’ 370-km exclusive economic zone.

China has refused to take part in the proceedings, but has been ordered by the tribunal to comment on the Philippine case by Dec. 15 this year.

Del Rosario considers the filing of the arbitration case a great achievement of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), but he is glad that the President did not touch the South China Sea dispute in his speech, as it might violate the Itlos sub judice rule.

There was “not much to say about the arbitration case” anyway, Del Rosario said.

Pending case in UN

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said in a text message that the President might have chosen not to mention the territorial dispute with China in his speech because of the pending case in the UN arbitral tribunal.

Renato de Castro, international studies professor at De La Salle University, said he was not surprised that Aquino did not speak about the South China Sea dispute.

“It may have something to do with the filing of the (arbitration) case. What’s the point of talking about it if we [have] already filed a case?” De Castro said in a telephone interview.

He said the President apparently “doesn’t want to add fuel to the raging fire,” referring to the tensions between the Philippines and China over the territorial dispute.

De Castro said the Philippines’ relations with China were at their lowest point, indicated by the lack of communication between the two governments above ambassadorial level.

“I think that is the reason why he doesn’t want to further accentuate the dispute,” he said.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the President “may have felt there’s sufficient public awareness of the West Philippine Sea issue, as well as adequate level of public support, including endorsements from leading countries [of the] Philippines’ recourse to UN arbitration.”

Triple action plan

But Del Rosario said the Philippines had a “triple action plan” to ease tensions in the region over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea, and he would present the plan to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers during their meeting with their counterparts from other Asia-Pacific countries in Burma (Myanmar) next week.

Besides the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also claim territories in the South China Sea, setting themselves against the extensive claim of China, which is pressing an expansion plan by building military outposts on disputed shoals and reefs in the sea.

The disputed islands, islets, shoals and reefs lie along vital sea-lanes and are believed to be sitting atop vast energy reserves.

China began to explore for oil in the sea by sending a deepwater oil drilling rig to Vietnamese waters in the East Sea in May, setting off anti-China riots in Vietnam and a confrontation between Chinese and Vietnamese maritime vessels.

Del Rosario discussed the plan to ease tensions with reporters on Tuesday after a luncheon with visiting European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton at the Manila Diamond Hotel.

“It’s a very good initiative,” Del Rosario said, adding that the United States supported the plan.

The first stage, Del Rosario said, is calling for a moratorium on activities that raise tensions in the South China Sea, such as China’s reclamation of land on disputed shoals and reefs.

The second stage, he said, is management of tension after the introduction of a moratorium.

“So we need to put more pressure on ourselves to have an effective implementation of the [Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea] and an expeditious conclusion of [a code of conduct],” Del Rosario said.

Arbitration

The third stage is arbitration, which the Philippines is already undertaking by bringing its territorial dispute with China to the UN arbitral tribunal.

Del Rosario said the outcome of the arbitration case would see the clear definition by the UN tribunal of the “maritime entitlements of everyone” in the South China Sea.

Standing beside Del Rosario in a joint news conference, Ashton said the European Union supported the Philippine arbitration case in the United Nations.

“Let me stress that the European Union encourages all parties to seek peaceful resolution through dialogue and cooperation in accordance with international law, in particular with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos),” Ashton said.

“The EU is a party to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and we recall its fundamental principles, namely, to settle disputes in peaceful means, to renounce the threat of use of force and to effectively cooperate among [ourselves],” she said.

Ashton said, however, that the European Union does not take sides in the South China Sea disputes, but she underscored the importance of the Unclos in resolving such disputes.

Violation of Unclos

Del Rosario said China violated Unclos by placing an oil rig in Vietnamese waters, but he noted that Beijing has already removed the rig.

China, however, has roped off Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) off Zambales province since grabbing it after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine ships in June 2012.

China has also blockaded Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the Spratly archipelago off Palawan province to prevent the restocking of a small Philippine Marine garrison aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting naval vessel that the government grounded on the shoal in 1999 to mark Philippine territory after China seized Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef) in 1995.

De Castro said it was apparent that the territorial dispute would not be resolved during President Aquino’s term.

But Aquino, he said, “did away with the foreign policy” of his predecessor, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

De Castro called Arroyo’s policy “equibalancing,” where the government deals with both the United States and China, hoping to balance each other out.

He said Aquino went for an “outright balancing, where you oppose China’s expansive maritime claims.”

“In the process, we are strengthening our alliances [but] straining our relations with China. It was [the] position he took,” De Castro said.

Inconsistent rhetoric

Ananda Almase, policy studies expert at National Defense College of the Philippines, said President Aquino’s excluding the dispute with China from his speech reflected either an inconsistent security rhetoric or a gambit to avoid raising tensions with an important regional neighbor.

“As chief of state, the President must be able to sustain the policy stand of the Philippines on our case. There must be a policy consistency and this must be clear as a recurring theme in his policy pronouncements in Congress,” Almase said.

She said the State of the Nation Address should “contain policies of the state not only inside the domestic realm, but also our relations outside.”

“The President must practice statecraft. Our nation needs it at this time when we face the arbitration case. The [Sona audience] also includes diplomats. They are interested in our state policy,” said Almase, who has analyzed Aquino’s past policy speeches to Congress.