By Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star)
MANILA, Philippines - Resolving the territorial dispute with China would not be easy, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday as he called for a position of “patriotism” among Filipinos and sacrifice if the Philippines is tested.
Although consultations to resolve the standoff in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc, should be pursued, Del Rosario said the Philippines should continue to stand up and defend its sovereign rights over the shoal and the West Philippine Sea in general.
“We need to defend what is ours. We need to stand up even as we look for ways to solve the disputes peacefully. We need to stand for what is ours. In order for us to do this, I think it is not going to be easy – and as you see it is not easy,” Del Rosario said before the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines.
“We need to get our people to bond together. We need to unite. We need to take a position of patriotism that what is ours is ours and we will stand for it. And it is possible that we may be tested and if we are tested, it is possible that everyone will need to make a sacrifice,” he added.
Del Rosario reiterated the Philippines is looking at different strategies in defending its claims and position in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) in general, including the legal track of dispute settlement mechanisms, including the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“Do we have to have China with us when we go to this dispute settlement mechanism, the answer is no. There are mechanisms there where we believe we can pursue our objectives without China being with us,” he said.
According to Del Rosario, a map prepared by the US Armed Forces in 1903 was given to him during his last visit to Washington.
The map included Panatag Shoal as part of the island groups of the Philippines, contrary to China’s claim that it is not included in the Philippine boundaries under the Treaty of Paris.
Del Rosario said he and Chinese Ambassador Ma Xeqing had began to discuss the pullout of ships in Panatag Shoal when they were engaged in consultations prior to the fishing ban China announced this week, but the two sides did not arrive at a conclusion or agreement.
“We are hoping that that ban will work out constructively and positively in being able to diffuse the situation, but I suppose that the consultations that we are having should include in the primary agenda, a protocol on what is to happen,” Del Rosario said.
The vessels that should be the first to pullout, Del Rosario said, should be discussed between the two parties in the consultations.
The Philippines said on Monday that it does not recognize the annual fishing ban that China announced it would enforce in the West Philippine Sea, saying it is an “encroachment” of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Chinese state media said the Chinese government announced it would enforce its annual fishing ban in the West Philippine Sea amid rising tensions with the Philippines over Panatag Shoal and other islands.
An official from the South China Fisheries Administration Bureau confirmed the ban includes waters around Panatag Shoal.
Del Rosario said the Philippines would exercise its legitimate and exclusive rights within its EEZ in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Panatag Shoal is an integral part of Philippine territory. The shoal is 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales. It is within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles EEZ and continental shelf.
The Philippines’ claim to sovereignty in Panatag Shoal is supported by the UNCLOS and the international law is clear in terms of the fact that the Philippines is well within the 200 nautical miles EEZ and also within the continental shelf.
China only stands on a historical claim, and the Philippines has taken the view that Beijing’s claim is not supported by UNCLOS.
Chinese enforcement of the ban has previously also sparked tensions with Vietnam.
The Philippines has also imposed a fishing ban in Panatag Shoal but the government explained the two-month ban is to protect marine resources in the area.
The Philippine Coast Guard has been tasked to implement the fishing ban.
However, local fishermen in Masinloc, Zambales sailed to Panatag Shoal amid the government’s declared fishing ban in the area.
“Our fishermen on board three fishing boats from Sitio Matalbis sailed yesterday to Panatag Shoal to fish,” RJay Bautista, municipal secretary, speaking on behalf of Masinloc Mayor Desiree Edora, said.
Bautista added the local government has yet to officially receive a communication from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) about the fishing ban for them to prevent local fishermen from fishing in Panatag Shoal.
Opposition lawmakers yesterday appealed to Malacañang not to risk economic relations with China by escalating its quarrel in Panatag Shoal.
The opposition lawmakers issued a statement saying bilateral trade between the Philippines and China is worth at least $12 billion and would be three times higher if non-taxed transactions are included.
“The most important task for this administration now is to defuse the tension with China. Because of this administration’s misplaced bravado, we have put at risk our long relationship with a valued neighbor,” the lawmakers said.
“The cancellation of all those container loads of bananas will affect an industry worth nearly a billion dollars and 200,000 jobs in a region as important to us as Mindanao. And that may just be the beginning,” they said, referring to reports that China has temporarily stopped the importation of bananas from the Philippines.
Also at risk are Filipino workers in China, including 120,000 in Hong Kong alone, they said.
“Many advanced countries are still growing too slowly to absorb these workers if they’re displaced.
And with our own jobless rate going up, we can’t afford to add them to our unemployed,” House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said.
He said there are many Chinese equity and loan investments in the country, including in high-profile projects like the railway to Clark and the rehabilitation of Casecnan Dam.
“We can ill afford the loss of these foreign investors when we cannot even get our own public-private partnership program off the ground,” Suarez said.
“Tourists from China (are) one of the top five sources of our foreign visitors. Beautiful new tourism slogans are useless when the tourists are being discouraged by their own government from visiting us,” he added.
Instead of “obsessing over impeachment,” Suarez said Malacañang should face the prolonged stand off. – With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan
MANILA, Philippines - Resolving the territorial dispute with China would not be easy, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday as he called for a position of “patriotism” among Filipinos and sacrifice if the Philippines is tested.Although consultations to resolve the standoff in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc, should be pursued, Del Rosario said the Philippines should continue to stand up and defend its sovereign rights over the shoal and the West Philippine Sea in general.
“We need to defend what is ours. We need to stand up even as we look for ways to solve the disputes peacefully. We need to stand for what is ours. In order for us to do this, I think it is not going to be easy – and as you see it is not easy,” Del Rosario said before the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines.
“We need to get our people to bond together. We need to unite. We need to take a position of patriotism that what is ours is ours and we will stand for it. And it is possible that we may be tested and if we are tested, it is possible that everyone will need to make a sacrifice,” he added.
Del Rosario reiterated the Philippines is looking at different strategies in defending its claims and position in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) in general, including the legal track of dispute settlement mechanisms, including the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“Do we have to have China with us when we go to this dispute settlement mechanism, the answer is no. There are mechanisms there where we believe we can pursue our objectives without China being with us,” he said.
According to Del Rosario, a map prepared by the US Armed Forces in 1903 was given to him during his last visit to Washington.
The map included Panatag Shoal as part of the island groups of the Philippines, contrary to China’s claim that it is not included in the Philippine boundaries under the Treaty of Paris.
Del Rosario said he and Chinese Ambassador Ma Xeqing had began to discuss the pullout of ships in Panatag Shoal when they were engaged in consultations prior to the fishing ban China announced this week, but the two sides did not arrive at a conclusion or agreement.
“We are hoping that that ban will work out constructively and positively in being able to diffuse the situation, but I suppose that the consultations that we are having should include in the primary agenda, a protocol on what is to happen,” Del Rosario said.
The vessels that should be the first to pullout, Del Rosario said, should be discussed between the two parties in the consultations.
The Philippines said on Monday that it does not recognize the annual fishing ban that China announced it would enforce in the West Philippine Sea, saying it is an “encroachment” of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Chinese state media said the Chinese government announced it would enforce its annual fishing ban in the West Philippine Sea amid rising tensions with the Philippines over Panatag Shoal and other islands.
An official from the South China Fisheries Administration Bureau confirmed the ban includes waters around Panatag Shoal.
Del Rosario said the Philippines would exercise its legitimate and exclusive rights within its EEZ in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Panatag Shoal is an integral part of Philippine territory. The shoal is 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales. It is within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles EEZ and continental shelf.
The Philippines’ claim to sovereignty in Panatag Shoal is supported by the UNCLOS and the international law is clear in terms of the fact that the Philippines is well within the 200 nautical miles EEZ and also within the continental shelf.
China only stands on a historical claim, and the Philippines has taken the view that Beijing’s claim is not supported by UNCLOS.
Chinese enforcement of the ban has previously also sparked tensions with Vietnam.
The Philippines has also imposed a fishing ban in Panatag Shoal but the government explained the two-month ban is to protect marine resources in the area.
The Philippine Coast Guard has been tasked to implement the fishing ban.
However, local fishermen in Masinloc, Zambales sailed to Panatag Shoal amid the government’s declared fishing ban in the area.
“Our fishermen on board three fishing boats from Sitio Matalbis sailed yesterday to Panatag Shoal to fish,” RJay Bautista, municipal secretary, speaking on behalf of Masinloc Mayor Desiree Edora, said.
Bautista added the local government has yet to officially receive a communication from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) about the fishing ban for them to prevent local fishermen from fishing in Panatag Shoal.
Do not risk economic relations
The opposition lawmakers issued a statement saying bilateral trade between the Philippines and China is worth at least $12 billion and would be three times higher if non-taxed transactions are included.
“The most important task for this administration now is to defuse the tension with China. Because of this administration’s misplaced bravado, we have put at risk our long relationship with a valued neighbor,” the lawmakers said.
“The cancellation of all those container loads of bananas will affect an industry worth nearly a billion dollars and 200,000 jobs in a region as important to us as Mindanao. And that may just be the beginning,” they said, referring to reports that China has temporarily stopped the importation of bananas from the Philippines.
Also at risk are Filipino workers in China, including 120,000 in Hong Kong alone, they said.
“Many advanced countries are still growing too slowly to absorb these workers if they’re displaced.
And with our own jobless rate going up, we can’t afford to add them to our unemployed,” House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said.
He said there are many Chinese equity and loan investments in the country, including in high-profile projects like the railway to Clark and the rehabilitation of Casecnan Dam.
“We can ill afford the loss of these foreign investors when we cannot even get our own public-private partnership program off the ground,” Suarez said.
“Tourists from China (are) one of the top five sources of our foreign visitors. Beautiful new tourism slogans are useless when the tourists are being discouraged by their own government from visiting us,” he added.
Instead of “obsessing over impeachment,” Suarez said Malacañang should face the prolonged stand off. – With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan
