The “urgent” task at hand is for the government to begin oil exploration and “get gas” in Recto Bank (Reed Bank) amid heightened tensions in the West Philippine Sea, said former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio in a television interview Tuesday.
“We have no choice but to get the gas in Reed Bank. Our economy will suffer tremendously [if we do not do so],” said Carpio, one of the legal luminaries that helped the country win a 2016 arbitral ruling against China’s massive nine-dash-line claim over the entire South China Sea.
He said the Aug. 5 water cannon attack unleashed by Chinese ships on Philippine vessels was a “threat” to Manila “not [to] send our survey ships to Reed Bank.”
“I think that is connected. For me, it’s very clear that they are flexing their muscle to intimidate us not to send our survey and drilling ship to Reed Bank,” he said.
At present, the Malampaya gas field supplies 40 percent of the energy requirement of Luzon, Carpio said, and without fresh supply from Reed Bank, the country might resort to importation which he said is “very expensive.”
“[If we import], I estimate our energy cost in Luzon will go up by 50 percent. And that will be devastating to everybody, that will fuel inflation. And consumers will suffer,” he added.
Recto Bank, northwest of Palawan and within the country’s exclusive economic zone, is said to possibly hold up to 5.4 billion barrels of oil and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
In January, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Chinese President Xi Jinping he is hopeful that efforts to revive talks on joint oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea will “bear fruit.”
Talks on the joint exploration of oil and gas between the two countries were “completely terminated” during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Since January, however, Chinese incursions have continued and escalated, with a laser-pointing incident in February and the water cannon attack earlier this month.
In July, the Supreme Court denied with finality a tripartite partnership of the Philippines, China, and Vietnam to explore a portion of the West Philippine Sea for oil and gas.
The High Court struck down due to lack of merit the appeal of its January 10, 2023 decision declaring as unconstitutional the Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) by China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PetroVietnam), and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).
In 2008, the parties had agreed to search an area in the South China Sea covering 142,886 square kilometers for possible petroleum and gas resources.
The High Court declared the joint search unconstitutional for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the Philippines’ natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution.