Joint exploration of Spratlys better than war, says Navy official

MANILA, Philippines – A joint exploration of the natural resources in the disputed Spratly group of islands is a better alternative than a bitter territorial contest among countries in the region, a ranking military official said yesterday.

“From a student of regional security, for us (in the military), diplomacy is still the best. We do not want to, we avoid war as much as possible,” Navy vice chief Rear Admiral Amable Tolentino said.

During an interview following the turnover of two newly refurbished Patrol Killer Medium gunboats at the Navy headquarters, Tolentino said a diplomatic solution to the issue on the contested territory would be beneficial to all claimant countries.

He stressed it would be better than a violent conflict to resolve the problem of ownership.

When jurisdiction over a contested area overlaps with other claimant countries, Tolentino stressed the possibility that tension would trigger an armed confrontation.

“So if you have diplomacy, you have an agreement, that is better than going to war, let me put it that way. That is our purpose, how to make use of the economic potential of that (area). If all would benefit from it, why not?” he said.

Tolentino said it would be disadvantageous for the Philippines to force the issue against other claimant nations considering its armed strength in terms of equipment is puny compared to its neighbors.

“That’s the reality, that’s why with that reality we are still suggesting diplomacy... Let us admit it, let us be realistic, we could not afford an armed confrontation with other countries considering our military capability,” he said.

Tolentino, however, stressed his statements are his personal opinion on the issue surrounding the joint exploration agreement between the Philippines and China.

Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan said the issue on joint explorations is a matter to be decided by the political leadership.

Caculitan said the military is supporting the joint exploration of the Spratlys which is seen as the win-win solution to the problem.

“Six countries are claiming ownership on the Spratly Islands, that is very basic. That territory is disputed, we have claims, they have claims of ownership. Now how do you go about this, will it be competing approach or a compromise or whatsoever, so you choose from these options. For so long, for so many years, it has been there, idle, resources have not been tapped but if you want our country to benefit, while there are Filipinos there we must explore other approaches,” he said.

The Spratlys are too remote for military action to be resorted to by claimant countries to assert ownership, he said, adding it is most pragmatic and beneficial to pursue a peaceful settlement of the issue.

The government said there was nothing wrong with the joint exploration agreement which was meant to jointly develop and transform certain areas in the disputed islands into an “area of cooperation.”

Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde said the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) had been specifically made to highlight the cooperation between the two countries to ease the tensions of conflicting territorial claims in the area.

Remonde said the allegations that the exploration agreement is a sellout to the Chinese are part of opposition efforts to destabilize the government and are meant to agitate the people to support calls for the resignation of President Arroyo.

Critics said the joint agreement violates the Philippine patrimony under the Constitution.

A group of lawyers pointed out the lack of transparency on the part of the Arroyo administration in its failure to disclose the contents of the JMSU with China.

“We demand from President Arroyo to publicly present the JMSU agreement not only to Congress but the public as well. We further demand that President Arroyo allow public scrutiny of all the contracts and loans concluded by the executive branch and desist from efforts to suppress information and evidence that would shed light on the corruption that attended these transactions,” the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said.

The NUPL said all government transactions in the absence of formal treaties ratified by Congress could be voided under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

The NUPL said the JMSU is unconstitutional since it violated the constitutional provision requiring the state to have full control of the exploration, development and utilization of the country’s natural resources and that any similar joint venture must be with corporations which are 60 percent Filipino-owned. – With Katherine Adraneda