The Philippines is willing to “put aside” its sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea as it eyes a possible “60-40” joint development with China along the disputed waters, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Tuesday night.
He told a news conference the Philippines needed to come to an understanding just like the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
“We have to put aside our territorial and sovereign rights claims but not abandon them,” Cayetano said, adding “the preliminary agreement is based on, let’s cooperate first, and let’s talk about who owns what, who has jurisdiction, later on.”
The foreign secretary said the islands in the WPS still remained disputed due to the ruling by the arbitral tribunal in The Hague.
But Cayetano described the country’s rights in the WPS as just “claims” even when the arbitral tribunal upheld the Philippines’ rights over the WPS.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio earlier said that Filipinos should no longer tag the WPS as “disputed” following the arbitral tribunal’s decision.
But Cayetano maintained these waters remained under dispute by some members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines.
Cayetano made the remarks in reply to questions regarding the proposed joint development in the WPS, where the Philippines and China would get 60 percent and 40 percent of the profit respectively.
China is open to this 60-40 arrangement, Cayetano had said.
Cayetano said China was still holding its position that it exercised “indisputable sovereignty” over the WPS.
“We also have indisputable sovereignty over our territory which is defined by the Philippine Constitution, and we also have indisputable claims under Unclos. But again, where do we take it from there?” said Cayetano when asked about the country’s position on the matter.
“Let’s say a very generic pen was found, and you can show me a picture of you using it, I can show you a picture of me using it, so what do we do? Do we leave it in court and say no one uses it until we decide?” he added.
“It’s a matter of principled pragmatism,” Cayetano said. “What’s better, 60-40 or 0-0?”
Meanwhile, former President Benigno Aquino III had advised that the proposed 60-40 arrangement might be disadvantageous to the Philippines.
“The bargaining position is 60-40. In the end, it might be the opposite. They might get 60, maybe 70,” Aquino warned.
“We’re talking about our exclusive economic zone. We have no obligation to share it with them. During my time, there was a joke. It is said: “What is ours is ours. What is yours, we share.’ Right now, it seems it’s true,” said Aquino.
Carpio, an expert on the WPS, earlier said the current Philippine Constitution prohibited any joint development within the Philippines’ EEZ.
