HOUSE leaders led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday rallied behind efforts of the Duterte administration to study the possibility of conducting joint exploration of natural resources with China in the contested West Philippine Sea.
“I have no objection, Alvarez said, stressing the President has been on the side of the people.
The President is doing everything for the common good of Filipinos and the country,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez’s position was shared by Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu of Batangas and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas who welcomed the statement of Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana that the Departments of Energy and Foreign Affairs had been studying the prospect of jointly exploring with Beijing the disputed waters.
But the joint exploration should not in any way jeopardize the country’s sovereignty.
“Any joint exploration deal must be based on existing laws and should not jeopardize our sovereignty,” Abu said.
“If sealed successfully, it would [be] one of the most dramatic foreign policy turnarounds in recent Philippine history and possibly provide an alternative source of Natural gas from Malampaya which is projected to be depleted in 10 years. Natural gas fuels the biggest power plants in our province, Batangas, which supplies at least 60 percent of the power requirements of Luzon,” Abu added.
Vargas, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said President Duterte’s pronouncement “is a constructive diplomatic move that we can consider.”
“If we find a deadlock with regard to our differing positions in West Philippine Sea, then let us open other avenues where both parties can agree on and find a win-win arrangement. As long as it is peaceful, equitable and constitutional, I think it would be beneficial to the Filipinos and all parties concerned,” Vargas said.
But Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin, member of the House minority bloc, opposed the plan, even as he warned the joint exploration with China could renounce the country’s victory in the Arbitral Tribunal last year.
“It sends a wrong signal as we are seen as appeasing China rather than making it accountable for violating our sovereignty with its continued build up of military infrastructures in the WPS. China will turn us into its puppet if we consider this rather pathetic proposal,” Villarin said.
The UN arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, rejecting China’s historic nine-dash line claim.
Sta. Romana earlier pointed out that the proposed joint exploration might be timely, citing nearing depletion of the energy supply from the Malampaya gas fields.
In doing so, he said said the government would want to know the available natural resources that could be extracted from the West Philippine Sea.