RP prepared to answer China's protest over Baselines Law

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang and administration lawmakers said yesterday the country is prepared to respond to protests from China over the new Baselines Law through international courts.

“We’re always prepared (to defend our claim). This isn’t the first time that there are claimants protesting… but we’re prepared to respond to any legal action,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters.

“We are sending the message to the whole world that we are affirming our national sovereignty… our national interest as an independent country,” Ermita said.

“We hail the signing into law of our Baselines Bill. Our sovereignty is paramount. Our country comes first,” said Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs. “Any adverse claims can be settled at the UN.”

He said the protest from China is expected, but the International Court of Justice could settle whatever dispute the signing of the Baselines Bill may trigger.

“I don’t think we should be intimidated. We are not intimidated by China. Let us allow these things to be settled by the UN through the International Court of Justice,” he said.

The Chinese government, Cuenco said, “should be cool and allow the normal process of resolving this to take place.”

He also ruled out withdrawing or modifying the law. “To me and to all Filipinos, sovereignty is always paramount. Our country should always come first. We will not backtrack. We have already done the best that we could,” he said.

“We have done everything possible to comply with the UNCLOS provision on the drawing of baselines. We have a deadline and we followed it,” he explained, citing the May 2009 deadline set by UNCLOS.

“I don’t know what they (China) are complaining about. I don’t see any point in their complaint because we only reiterated our claim over those islands by designating them as regime of islands,” Cuenco pointed out.

“That’s allowed under article 121 of UNCLOS. Regime of islands practically means nothing,” he added.

“The protest of China, that’s to be expected because they’ve always been jittery and they’re paranoid regarding the claims of other countries in the South China Sea,” he said.

“They (China) don’t own the South China Sea, they’re just claiming ownership. Their claim remains merely a claim. They do not have title to it in the same way we don’t have title to it. The same thing with Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan,” Cuenco stressed.

Pangasinan Rep. Arthur Celeste, chairman of the House committee on national defense, also hailed the signing of the Baselines Bill.

“It affirms our national interest as an independent nation. The major concerns of the other claimant countries were considered prior to its approval in Congress and eventual signing into law by President Arroyo,” he said.

“The protest is understandable and expected. But we believe this does not justify any amendment to the Baselines Law,” he said.

“The protest can be peacefully resolved based on the mechanisms in the Code of Conduct entered into by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to peacefully resolve claims over the disputed islands,” he added.

For his part, Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez said the Philippines should be firm in its stand because it is “not a province of China” and the South China Sea “is not a Chinese lake.”

“The law was crafted mindful of international laws and the national interest. We are not staking claim on what is not ours,” he said.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources said Beijing did not expect the Philippines to push through with the signing of Republic Act 9522 known as the Philippine Baseline Act because of its strong objection.

Sources said China considered the law as the Philippines’ claiming ownership of Chinese territory.

After the Senate’s passage of the legislation, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Guangya summoned a Philippine embassy official in Beijing to say that the bill was “illegal and invalid.”   – With Pia Lee-Brago