Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio believes China, to which the administration pivoted since 2016, will try to reclaim Scarborough Shoal before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022.
At the same time, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., in a speech before the Asia Society in New York, described Beijing’s South China Sea code as like “a manual for feeding a dragon in your living room.”
Locsin described China as a “hegemon” in the way it seeks to deal with its neighbors in the South China Sea and expressed support for continued US presence in the region.
A hegemon is a leading or major power which enjoys an edge over people who would otherwise be that power’s peers, that is, someone who enjoys hegemony, a predominating influence over others.
Locsin told an Asia Society Beijing seeks a code of conduct for the South China Sea that “is all about how Southeast Asia and China will engage with each other and no one else.”
Locsin added: “[Such an agreement would be] implicit recognition of Chinese hegemony. In short, a manual for living with a hegemon or the care and feeding of a dragon in your living room.”
For his part, Carpio said the Chinese would make the attempt in three years because the President himself had said he could not stop them from building structures in the shoal locally known as Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc.
“We all know they have a plan and they will do that before the end of the term of President Duterte, and because that is the time they will also sign the Code of Conduct,” Carpio told a seminar for journalists on reporting on maritime issues on Wednesday.
Carpio was referring to an agreement between China and Southeast Asian nations on activities in the South China Sea. The Code of Conduct, Carpio said, is designed to “manage the dispute” but would not settle its merits.
Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday grilled the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations nominee, Atty. Rodolfo Robles, about the national policy toward China during the Commission on Appointments hearing.
Noting that over 90 percent of Filipinos want the Philippines to regain control of the West Philippine Sea, Pangilinan questioned Robles, a graduate of the San Beda College of Law and bar topnotcher, about his stand on the issue.
“With China’s incursion in our Exclusive Economic Zone or our territorial sovereign waters, our people would like to know, what are we going to do with these challenges that we face?” Pangilinan asked Robles.
The powerful CA convened to confirm the appointment of 57 officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, including Robles, former member of the 1971 Constitutional Convention and Duterte’s consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution.
Robles’s appointment was signed by the President last July 1, 2019.
“I think what the government is doing, is doing it within its proper resources. We are actually trying to strengthen our military capability… But at the moment, we are actually not able to do anything except (raise) protests one after other saying this is an illegal act of China but at the same time, I’m not aware of what we really can do effectively to stop China from doing these,” said Robles, a native of Tiaong, Quezon.
Pangilinan, who is the CA Minority Floor Leader, also raised the issue of the suspension of negotiations with countries that signed the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution to probe the Philippine government’s war on drugs, noting that even Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana was reported to be seeking an exemption due to its possible effects to national security.
“Are you hoping to extensions to the policy or the suspension? Are you willing to bring this matter up to the President and say perhaps a better approach could be to do this on a case-to-case basis?” Pangilinan said.
In response, Robles said the suspension of negotiations will not affect the country’s relationship with security partners such as Australia.
He also said he is willing to take a second look at the matter and raise it to the President if need be.
Robles’s confirmation was put on hold after Senator Risa Hontiveros called for a caucus to discuss his confirmation, where the results would be announced in plenary later.
Franklin J. Demonteverde Sr., a retired judge and former chairman of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, was confirmed as member of the Judicial and Bar Council representing the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
The 56 DFA officials were confirmed:
· Seven Chief of Mission, Class I: Joseph Angeles, Maria Amelita Aquino, Noralyn Baja, Jose Maria Cariño, Junever Mahilum-West, Millicent Paredes, Wilfredo Santos;
· 11 Chief of Mission, Class II: Deena Amatong, Jaime Ascalon Jr., Igor Bailen, Raymond Balatbat, Maria Agnes Cervantes, Alan Deniega, Angelica Escalona, Myla Macahilig, Maria Lourdes Salcedo, Marie Charlotte Tang, Marian Tirol-Ignacio;
· 17 Career Minister: Gerardo Abiog, Iric Arribas, Juan Dayang Jr, Pete Delfin, Noemi Diaz, Ambrosio Enciso III, Leilani Feliciano, Myca Fischer, Mark Hamoy, Raphael Hermoso, Ana Maria Hernando, Mary Luck Hicarte, Shirlene Mananquil, Maria Elena Maningat, Angelito Nayan, Charmaine Serna-Chua, Arnel Talisayon;
· 20 Foreign Service Officer, Class I: Azela Arumpac-Marte, Vanessa Bago-Llona, Bryan Baguio, Fernando Beup Jr., AlenaBorra, Maria Roseny Fangco, Ferdinand Flores, Michael Lyndon Garcia, Maria Angelica Genotiva, Rona Beth Goce, Dominic Imperial, Charles Macaspac, Maria Sheila Monedero-Arnesto, Jarie Osias, Ryan Pondoc, Gilbert Segarra, Zoilo Velasco, Rogelio Villanueva Jr., Bolivar Bao, Mary Joy Ballecer-Ramirez; and Foreign Service Office, Class IV Jean Robles.