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Sea experts: China's aggression in West Philippine Sea happens because we allow them to


The Philippines has no one to blame but itself for the unabated reclamation activities of China in the exclusive economic zone of the West Philippine Sea, University of the Philippines professors Clarita Carlos and Jay Batongbacal said Monday. 

Carlos and Batongbacal were referring to the Duterte administration’s failure to assert the Philippines’ unprecedented 2016 legal victory against China. The UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague rejected China’s expansive nine-dash line claim of the entire South China Sea and declared that the Spratly Islands, as well as the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank are all within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The same Hague ruling also outlawed China’s action of preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing Panatag Shoal which the UN Court deemed as traditional fishing grounds for both countries. 

“These abuses by China…it will only happen because we consented to. We can’t say later China is exploiting us. We allow ourselves to be exploited,” Carlos, a professor of political science, said in a virtual forum.

“Our strategy is not advancing our interests, it is even backpedaling. We do not even have a strategy, and that is the biggest deficit we have here,” Carlos added.

Batongbacal, who serves as the director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, agreed by saying that such ambivalence of the administration despite the 2016 victory will bite the country back in the future.

He cited that for one, it was only in 2019 when the Department of Foreign Affairs filed a note verbale against China over the apparent presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels around Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese presence was confirmed this month during the launching of a beach ramp on Pag-asa island graced by officials from the Department of National Defense.

“For the past three years, we have been ambivalent. As a country, you have to be consistent with your position. Every time there is an opportunity, you should state your position and maintain that,” Batongbacal said. 

“If you become inconsistent at one point and you say the opposite, that undermines the credibility of the state with respect to that position, and it will be used against you in the future,” Batongbacal added.

Batongbacal did not cite any case, but a Chinese vessel sank the Philippine fishing boat Gem-Vir 1 with 22 crew members in Reed Bank—an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone as upheld by the 2016 UN Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling. 

To this day, the Chinese government has yet to pay any financial compensation for the aggrieved fishermen. 

Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday said the Philippine government should sue China before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas for damages over Beijing's failure to grant compensation to the 22 fishermen.

No future 

And with the world still battling the COVID-19 pandemic which originated in Wuhan, China, Batongbacal said that even the joint exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea which the Duterte government is backing could end up in the back burner. 

“To put it bluntly, nothing [will come out of that]. There is not much urgency for that now, except for political side where it will be only for presentation,” Batongbacal said.

“What is the feasibility of the exploration? Oil prices are low amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Why would the state spend an enormous amount of resources at this time when you only have 10% chance of coming up with anything?” Batongbacal added.

Carlos agreed, saying it is better to pursue a regional fishing agreement. 

“We should have a regional fishing agreement. Hindi puwedeng China lang ang nagsasabi kung kailan at saan puwede mangisda, at kung kailan ang fishing holiday,” Carlos pointed out.

“We should have a say, along with other six claimant countries,” Carlos added. —KG, GMA News

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