Palace: PHL won’t set aside arbitral ruling for joint exploration with China

Malacañang on Thursday said the Philippines would not shelve the arbitral ruling to pave the way for the planned joint oil and gas exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the arbitral award is subject to future talks even as the Philippines and China will forge ahead with other points of cooperation like the joint exploration.

“He did not say that the Philippines will drop the claim. He said the arbitral ruling is still subject to peaceful talks – iyon ang ibig sabihin noon. In other words, impasse pa eh kaya hayaan mo muna silang mag-usap; so let’s talk about other things like this joint exploration,” Panelo said at a news conference.

“As we have always said, the relationship between the two countries is not measured by the conflict in the West Philippine Sea alone.”

Duterte on Tuesday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had offered the Philippines majority stake in the joint exploration if Manila would set aside the 2016 arbitral award, which invalidated China’s sweeping claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas under Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Chief Executive added the issue on the EEZ was part of the ruling “which we will ignore to come up with an economic activity.”

Vice President Leni Robredo slammed Duterte’s latest statement, calling it “profoundly disappointing” and “extremely irresponsible.”

She also called for “great care in ensuring that we are not trading away the long-term interests of our nation and our children for short-term profit.”

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario suggested that if a service contract arrangement is followed, where a Chinese company participates either as an equity holder or a subcontractor, the President would remain faithful to the Constitution and the arbitral award.

Panelo dismissed Del Rosario’s suggestion, saying the former Cabinet official “talks too much.”

“We’ve already responded to all his opinions and he should look at himself on the mirror and admit that he’s the one responsible for losing Scarborough Shoal [to China],” he said.

Del Rosario’s successor, Teodoro Locsin Jr., assured the public on Wednesday that the planned joint oil and gas exploration will not compromise the competing claims of both countries in the West Philippine Sea, a portion of the South China Sea being claimed by Manila.

He also said that the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague was final and binding. — RSJ, GMA News