Carpio: Marcos ‘doing the right thing so far’ in addressing West PH Sea dispute

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been making the right moves in addressing the West Philippine Sea (WPS) dispute against China, former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said.

Carpio, who was part of the Philippine delegation that won the arbitration case versus China in 2016, was asked in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart on Monday if the steps taken by Marcos on the WPS issue are correct.

This was in light of the country needing to utilize possible natural gas resources from Reed Bank, with the looming depletion of the Malampaya gas field.

“Yes, so far he has been doing the right thing and announcing the joint patrol because you need a joint patrol to safeguard our survey ship, because Manny Pangilinan said we are ready to go to Reed Bank with our survey ship, but we need protection — that’s what he said, we need protection,” Carpio said.

“Because he will just be shoved away by the Chinese Coast Guard if he is not protected.  So far, President Marcos is doing it correctly, so we expect him to announce shortly to lift the moratorium, to allow now Forum Energy to go there with all the preparations — our Coast Guard would be there, our Navy would be there and will be holding joint patrols,” he added.

Pangilinan leads PXP Energy Corp., which holds a 79.13 percent controlling stake in Forum Energy, a British upstream oil and gas company.  Forum Energy got Service Contract 72 in Reed Bank, which allows it to explore possible natural gas resources in the said area.

READ: Pangilinan to gov’t: Resume exploration talks with China

Reed Bank, however, is claimed by both the Philippines and China.  It has been the site of several incidents between the two countries in the past, including the sinking of the fishing boat Gem-Ver 1 after being hit by a Chinese trawler.

TIMELINE: The Reed Bank incident

According to Carpio, Marcos raised the issue of the Philippines needing to explore Reed Bank to cope with its energy needs during the President’s visit to Beijing last January.  However, he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping did not allow a joint exploration in Reed Bank.

“Our most pressing problem with China now is how to get the gas in Reed Bank, because Malampaya is running out of gas […] if we don’t get the gas in Reed Bank, we have to import LNG (liquified natural gas) which will make our power rates here in Luzon maybe 50 percent higher,” Carpio said.

“I think he went to Beijing last January to convey this message to President Xi that we have no choice but to get the gas in Reed Bank […] but the answer of President Xi was a flat no, although the communiqué issued by the Philippines and China said there was an agreement to explore jointly oil and gas in the [WPS], the Global Times — the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party — President Xi agreed to jointly explore oil and gas in non-disputed areas,” he added.

READ: Philippine natural gas future uncertain with Malampaya depletion

The correct next move in such a scenario, the retired SC associate justice said, was to conduct joint patrols with other like-minded nations — which Marcos did.

“So when President Marcos came back here to Manila, he immediately announced [that] we will have joint patrols with the US because Malaysia and Indonesia did the same thing — they need to develop new gas fields, new oil fields, and Malaysia said they will send their survey ship and drilling ship, to an area that was also claimed by China,” Carpio said.

“And China said you cannot do that, there will be war.  But Malaysia still sent their survey ship and drilling ship accompanied by their Navy and Coast Guard, and at the same time, the US and Australian Navies conducted drills in the same area.  So there was some sort of moral support from the US and Australia, and Malaysia was able to successfully complete the survey and drilling,” he added.

READ: US, PH to conduct joint patrols with ‘like-minded partners’ in South China Sea 

A moratorium on exploration and drilling for the West Philippine Sea was placed during the Aquino administration after the Chinese Coast Guard harassed local vessels exploring the area.  But with Malampaya reserves thinning, Carpio said the government needs to find other sources or suffer both a political and economic crisis.

While President Marcos has maintained that the Philippines would be a “friend to all and an enemy of none”, experts have noted that the country appears to have mended ties with the US which were believed to have been strained under former president Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: An alliance restored: Marcos Jr.’s US policy

The recovery of the Philippines-US ties was evident in the recent announcement of new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) sites, which Marcos said would benefit the Philippines’ defense capabilities.

Key allies of the administration like House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez have also mentioned in several instances that Philippines-US relations are entering new heights under the Marcos administration.

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