Cuenco says baselines bill has been placed on hold

MANILA, Philippines - The chairman of the House panel which was suppose to tackle the redefinition of the country's territorial waters and the Spratlys island group on Friday admitted that the bill has been temporarily shelved. The admission came even as the deadline set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas is set to end in less than year. “Freeze na muna, wala tayong magagawa. Yun ang request ni Speaker (Prospero Nograles). Humingi si Speaker ng konti pang panahon. How can you refuse the Speaker?" Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs and author of the bill, said. He was referring to his House Bill (HB) No. 3216 which was supposed to define Philippine territorial waters to cover the disputed Spratly island group and Scarborough Shoal. HB 3216 was approved on second reading last December. Cuenco said he is acceding to the desire of the majority to seek further guidance in refining the provisions of the proposed measure particularly in light of various objections from the Chinese government and from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Beijing has protested the progress of HB 3216, saying the bill will have negative effects on its bilateral relations with the Philippines and will be adverse to the stability of the South China Sea region. The DFA on the other hand has expressed concern that certain provisons of HB 3216 might be violative of related international laws. Cuenco said the opposition bloc has set up a consultative caucus with legal experts on maritime laws next week to discuss HB 3216. He said the ‘consensus of opinion in the House’ is to wait and see what the counterpart bill in the Senate will contain. However, he stressed that his bill stands as it was approved on second reading and will not be recalled. “The bill is ready for third reading. We will not change our minds anymore, we will just listen to other opinions. We have to face the reality that it’s not an easy piece of legislation… there are lots of different opinions," Cuenco said. At the same time, he warned the chamber and the government that the clock is ticking on the Unclos deadline. The lawmaker warned that it would be an ‘embarrassment’ for himself and for the entire Lower House if it fails to pass the bill before the deadline. Cuenco is eyeing the end of the year to give chance for the Senate to complete deliberations on the counterpart bill to HB 3216 and to have a unified version ready for President Arroyo to sign into law. - GMANews.TV