An opposition lawmaker on Friday hit Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano for “redefining “diplomatic protest.”
Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano was referring to Cayetano’s remarks during the hearing of the House special committee on the West Philippine Sea last Wednesday, where Cayetano boasted that the Philippines has filed 50 to 100 diplomatic protests against China in the last two years.
However, he clarified afterward that not all of the “diplomatic protests” came in the form of a note verbale. The Foreign Affairs secretary said a simple objection uttered by the President could already be considered a diplomatic protest.
“In an attempt to get away from the lack of action of the Duterte administration on the West Philippine Sea issue, they are now altering the definition of diplomatic protest,” Alejano said.
Alejano said that a diplomatic protest must be in written form.
“If for Secretary Cayetano simple utterances of words are already considered diplomatic protest, then what is its difference to writing on water? The fact that the public are urging filing of diplomatic protests against illegal actions of China in the West Philippine Sea underscores the seriousness of the matter. Do you expect China, which has repeatedly violated our rights in our territory, to comply over small talk and lists?” Alejano said.
“A diplomatic protest puts on record our stand on a certain matter. It goes without saying that a diplomatic protest must be in written form. A formal written protest will serve as a historical record of how we responded to every violation committed to us by other states. Let us not weaken its value,” Alejano added.
The former Marine officer then reminded Cayetano not to resort to playing with words to justify the Duterte administration’s lack of action on the West Philippine Sea.
“The Filipino people deserve better than vague rhetoric and twisted concepts, especially on this matter of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Alejano said.
Cayetano earlier told lawmakers that any joint oil exploration of the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines and China does not mean the government is giving up the United Nations arbitration ruling favoring Filipinos’ sovereign rights over the disputed sea.
“Just because we are not using the word arbitral award does not mean we are giving up on our rights,” said Cayetano during a briefing by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea [NTF-WPS] for members of the House special committee on the WPS chaired by Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
Cayetano also said the administration is trying to improve a bad situation inherited from the past administration.
“When President Duterte came in, like in a company you have to stop the bleeding first. We talked to China, we drew lines. They asked us not to build in uninhabited land; not to extract resources unilaterally. We told them do not build in Scarborough, don’t touch Ayungin, don’t stop resupply of troops, do not extract oil unilaterally,” said Cayetano.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. assured the public that the Duterte administration does not and will not abandon the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the South China Sea disputes.
“This is merely set aside in the meantime, in line with the efforts of government at promoting peace, stability, and cordial relations among claimant countries in the region. At the proper time, we will take full advantage of the tribunal ruling, even as China refuses to recognize this, to serve as basis for the country’s exercise of sovereignty and jurisdiction over features that are in the Philippine territorial waters,” said Esperon.
DFA Undersecretary for Strategic Communications Ernesto Abella said there were “very serious engagements going on” between the government and China, after a pre-departure briefing on President Rodrigo Duterte’s official visit to South Korea from June 3 to 5.
Abella said the government cannot grant the call of the Senate and some critics to reveal “classified details” of the diplomatic actions.
“We would like to encourage the public to trust us and rest assured that the government especially the DFA is addressing this issue,” he said.
He also said that cooperation on the safety of the seas, travels, fisheries and environmental concerns are being made especially with China.
“What we really wanted to underline is the safety of the sea that there will be no interruption along that line,” Abella said.
On Thursday, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte will not sit on the country’s sovereign rights in the WPS.
“The President, who is the chief architect of the nation’s foreign policy, will not sit on our rights and will never give away even an inch of territory,” Roque said in a press statement.
Roque said the Philippines “will resort to all diplomatic initiatives including filing of diplomatic protest when warranted but without fanfare.”
China, the world’s second-largest economy, had reportedly deployed anti-ship cruise missile and surface-to-air missile systems on three artificial islands the Chinese built within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China’s air force has also reportedly landed a long-range H-6K bomber in Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands being claimed by Vietnam.
China has been claiming nearly the entire of South China Sea using the nine-dash line map which, according to UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration, has no legal basis.
The Hague-based arbitral ruled in favor of the Philippines’ arbitration case against China’s demarcation line in July 2016.
China had refused to recognize the arbitral tribunal’s verdict, claiming it did not participate in the arbitration proceeding.
This prompted Duterte to temporarily shelve the PCA decision to give way friendly and diplomatic approach to the territorial dispute.
The Philippines has opted to use a two-pronged approach, with one dealing the non-contentious issues such trade and investment as well as people-to-people exchanges, and the other method on contentious matters like the overlapping claims in the WPS.
The diplomatic approach has resulted in the creation of the Bicameral Consultative Committee between the Philippines and China.