PRESIDENTIAL Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday said it is up to China to improve relations with the Philippines after a poll showed that most Filipinos continue to trust the United States more than China, which has encroached on Philippine territory.
According to a December 2017 Social Weather Stations survey, 75 percent of Filipinos said they have “much trust” in the United States. This gave the US a “very good” net trust rating of +68.
In contrast, China’s +20 score in the same survey gave it a “neutral” trust rating—which was up from a “poor” -13 score in September 2017.
SWS said this was only the ninth time China had a positive score in 45 surveys since it was included in its survey in August 1994.
Roque said the Philippines started to build friendly relations with China and strengthened the ties after President Rodrigo Duterte met China’s Xi Jinping during the recent Asia-Pacific meet in Vietnam.
He said the warmer ties reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting regional peace and stability, freedom of navigation
in and over-flight above the South China Sea, as well as freedom of commerce and other peaceful uses.
In a press briefing, Roque said the survey, was no longer surprising as the US, along with Japan have been long-time allies of the Philippines.
“Let us give China the chance to fulfill their promise with regards to the territorial dispute,” Roque said.
He said it is up to China if it wants to further improve its ties with the Philippines, adding that Manila has already reached out to Beijing by setting aside the maritime dispute.
Roque said the government will continue to raise the “good faith of China” that it would not conduct further reclamations and work on islands that it had already reclaimed.
“We want to trust China but China must also prove herself to be trustworthy,” Roque added.
Roque, meanwhile, said the government is considering at least two areas in the South China Sea for joint exploration by Philippine and Chinese companies.
“We are still in the process of negotiating with China,” Roque said, referring to service contracts 57 in Northern Palawan and 72 in the disputed Reed Bank.
Critics have said joint exploration would be an acknowledgement of China’s claims to disputed territories in the South China Sea, contrary to an international arbitration court’s finding that dismissed China’s claims as excessive.
Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio weighed in again Friday, saying there is no way the Philippines will give up its claims to China. He also rejected any joint ventures unless they are governed by Philippine laws.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte said joint exploration with China could be likened to co-ownership of the disputed area, a view the Palace later played down.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, said oil exploration in Philippine territory should be open to all as long as it complies with the Constitution and there is no surrender of sovereignty.
He noted that gas and oil exploration are usually joint ventures among countries, citing the Malampaya gas field off Palawan, which is a collaboration among Philippine, Dutch and British firms.
“If it’s not China, there’s really a foreign partner. If not the Americans, there’s Europeans because they have the technology and the capital,” he said.
He backed plans for the Philippines to jointly prospect for oil in the West Philippine Sea with “China and other countries” for as long as it is “between private parties and that we won’t be giving away the deed to the area.”
The energy exploration in the WPS, he said, must be under “a constitutionally-compliant win-win arrangement.”
He said the search for domestic sources of fossil fuel becomes more urgent with the projected end of Malampaya’s production by 2024.
“If Malampaya, which supplies 45 percent of Luzon’s power, runs out of natural gas in six years, then the search for ways to secure our energy future becomes urgent,” Recto said.
“We have a growing energy appetite to satiate. We are buying close to half a million vehicles a year. In five years, we will be adding 8 million to our population, each of whom will consume electricity, from charging cell phones to watching TV.”
Piped in from an offshore platform, Malampaya gas fuels three base load power plants in Batangas with a capacity of 2,700 megawatts.
“The plants provide 40 percent to 50 percent of the energy needs of “the 57 million people living in the world’s 4th most populous island,” Recto said.
While energy officials and the gas field’s driller have said a combination of measures will stretch Malampaya’s life to 2029, “it has been conceded that output will drop in 2024,” Recto said.
Also on Friday, Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said the President’s order to fiercely protect the Philippine Rise and implement stricter security measures was a win for Filipino scientists.
“It is just right that when it comes to foreign scientists, we are stricter on the issuance of permits and the implementation of sovereign rights,” said Aquino.