RP security unaffected by lapsed Spratly deal

Abandoning a controversial agreement on joint exploration with China and Vietnam in the contested Spratlys won’t harm the Philippines’ security and economic interests or its relations with its neighbors.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita gave the assurance in response to a statement from Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes that the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and Vietnam “has lapsed and has not been extended.”

As a result, Reyes said development plans in areas covered by the deal have been shelved.

The entire 142,886-square-kilometer area covered by the JMSU is within Philippine territory.

But Ermita, who heads a top-level interagency group on the JMSU, said the agreement could still be revived or taken to the next level in the future, depending on the outcome of the analysis of the data gathered in a previous seismic survey.

“The JMSU agreement lapsed because the seismic survey was done and the next step is to review the data. We are not sure whether the results would be promising or not,” Ermita told The STAR in a telephone interview.

“This is not a setback,” he stressed.

The JMSU was signed in July 2005 between the Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), the China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC), and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PetroVietnam), all state-owned corporations.

The signing of the agreement, when it became public in 2006, drew widespread criticism particularly from senators.

Critics of the deal said the agreement jeopardized the country’s territorial claims on the disputed Spratlys, locally known as Kalayaan.

Ermita said the non-renewal of the agreement would not hamper the government’s long-term efforts to make the Philippines less dependent on imported oil or strain relations with China and Vietnam.

Under the JMSU, China would be in charge of conducting the survey while the Philippines and Vietnam would be the ones to process and interpret the data.

“This was really meant to enhance cooperation and is a test of our will to resolve our disputes in a cooperative activity instead of through the force of arms,” he said, referring to the unresolved claims of the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia over the mineral-rich Spratlys.

He said according to the Department of Justice, the seismic survey is not even a pre-exploration activity in the disputed area, which means there is no violation of the Constitution. He also said the JMSU did not violate the code of conduct forged by claimant countries.

He could not say what the responses were of CNOOC and PetroVietnam.

“This is, in part, a private agreement, so we will wait what will happen next, whether the PNOC will request that it be renewed or they would take the next step,” Ermita said.

He said the DOJ and the Department of Energy would closely scrutinize any proposal from the signatories to the deal to make sure the country’s economic and security interests are protected.

The Arroyo administration earlier defended the deal, saying it would transform a potential regional flashpoint into a zone of peace and development.

Worried over the possible effects on relations between the two countries, the Chinese government earlier this year offered to help resolve the controversy over the JMSU after senators threatened to have the issue investigated over reports that the agreement was unconstitutional.