IF Vice President Jejomar C. Binay were elected president, he said he would try to improve strained relations with China by pushing joint ventures in the exploitation of resources in disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea.
“What’s wrong with that?” Binay asked in a radio interview “There’s a property. We are in need of capitalization, we need a lot of investors, we hope to continue and attract investors. One of our biggest problems is how to attract investors, to have a better economy.”
“In other words, let me say that the issue of ownership must not be a problem to have good trade relations,” said Binay, who had just returned from the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, Indonesia.
During the Bandung Conference, Binay announced foreign policy thrusts he said he wants to pursue if he would be elected president in 2016, including an appeal for rich Asian and African nations to protect their smaller and weaker neighbors instead of being sources of insecurity and fear.
The call was described as a response to China’s continuing reclamation work in the West Philippine Sea amid the arbitration case the Philippines filed against Beijing before a United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal.
But Malacañang quickly tried to douse Binay’s foreign-policy pronouncements and said the proposal for a joint exploration with China in the contested West Philippine Sea is not the official position of the Philippine government.
In a radio interview, Presidential Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma said the Philippines will pursue diplomatic track through a peaceful mean in resolving the ongoing dispute with China over territories in the West Philippine Sea.
“If that is his position, it is only a personal statement and it is not the official position of our government,” Coloma said in a radio interview over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.
“Nothing has changed on the Philippine government’s position, and that [the arbitration] is what we have been pursuing. Whatever Vice President discussed is his personal position),” Coloma said.
While in Bandung, Binay said that he would welcome a joint venture with China to explore for oil and gas in the disputed maritime areas.
“Personally, my feeling is we will continue to insist (on) our sovereignty over those properties but at the same time we hope we can create a situation where we can improve bilateral relations with China,” Binay told reporters in Jakarta.
“China has all the capital and we have the property so why don’t we try and develop that property as a joint venture?” he added when asked about a joint partnership with China in oil and gas exploration.
President Benigno Aquino III is set to leave on Sunday to attend the Association of South East Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi in Malaysia where he is expected to push for a stronger Asean declaration on China’s maritime dispute with member nations.
“It is certain that the reclamation activities [of China in the West Philippine Sea] will be given a highest priority during the summit. Because this issue has an implication of regional peace and stability,” Coloma said.
In Kuala Lumpur, Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Luis Cruz told the reporters Aquino is expected to seek stronger regional stand for the peaceful and rules-based settlement against China’s aggressive invasion of the sea during the summit.
Aquino, along with the official Philippine delegation, is expected to arrive at 12 noon in Malaysia on Sunday to attend the summit which will run from April 26 to 28.
Cruz said there will a joint-working group formed by ASEAN and China where they will discuss about the proposed binding conduct code in the South China Sea.
The diplomatic official said that the joint working group will be conducted by three meeting “to come up with a successor legal instrument that will be more binding among member-countries”.
“I think the level of discussion of that joint working group is to identify the elements that can easily be achieved or agreed upon, or what they call the low-hanging fruit. An example would be the opening of this hotline, you know, and then activities on search and rescue operation,” he said.
The summit comes in a wake of the Philippines’ protest of the illegal establishment of artificial islands and military structure by China in the West Philippine Sea or within the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone of Manila.
On Monday, Aquino will join other Asean leaders in the opening ceremony of the 26th Asean Summit and the leaders are expected to discuss the establishment of the Asean Community.
On the same day, President Aquino will also attend separate meetings with representatives from the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Asean Business Advisory Council, Asean Youth and Civil Society Organizations.
Immediately after the meetings, the President will fly to Langkawi together with other ASEAN leaders for the retreat session of the ASEAN Summit.
A barbecue dinner hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his spouse, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, will cap Aquino’s second day in Malaysia.
On Tuesday, the President will join his counterparts for the 11th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit before his departure for Manila.
President Aquino will be joined by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.
Also accompanying the President are Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., Presidential Management Staff Chief Julia Abad, NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan, and Mindanao Development Authority Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino.