Maritime expert off to Beijing

MANILA, Philippines –  The Philippines is sending a mission to China to discuss the alleged harassment by two Chinese naval vessels of a research ship of the Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday off the disputed Spratly islands.

President Aquino said on Friday he is sending Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs Secretary General and Spratlys expert Henry Bensurto to Beijing to discuss the incident.

Diplomatic sources said yesterday the visit is still being arranged.

“It’s being arranged but there’s no schedule yet,” a source told The STAR.

The Department of Foreign Affairs summoned Bai Tian, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Manila, on Thursday.

The Philippines lodged a diplomatic protest against the harassment by the Chinese Navy boats.

“They’ve not gotten back,” another source said when asked about Beijing’s response to the diplomatic protest.

According to Sun Yi, deputy chief of political section and spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Manila, the matter was immediately reported to Beijing but an explanation “takes time as far as I know.”

China has called for peaceful negotiations to resolve disputes in the South China Sea in response to complaints by the Philippines that Chinese patrol boats had harassed a Filipino oil exploration vessel in a disputed area.

Sun insisted that China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha islands and the Spratly Islands.

“What I want to point out is that, ever since ancient times, China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters,” Sun said.

He stressed that China has been consistently sticking to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China forged a Code of Conduct on South China Sea to reduce tensions as well as peacefully resolve territorial claims and improve the general political climate in the region.

“The Chinese side maintains that the related disputes should be resolved through peaceful negotiations,” Sun said.

A source said the diplomatic protest was more on China’s “encroachment” into Philippine territory than on the supposed “harassment” by its navy boats.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippines has “ascertained” that the area is part of its territory.  

Patrols

In the wake of the incident near the Spratlys, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) dispatched three vessels to patrol the area and provide security to DOE’s M/V Venture conducting research activities in the area.

“In view of the increasing number of marine surveys and energy explorations, we expect Coast Guard services to be tapped even more. Escorting security of vessels falls under the PCG’s sea marshaling system which can be done by either assigning sea marshals on board the vessel to be protected or providing Coast Guard ships to escort vessels such as the energy exploration vessels,” PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said.

Tamayo said that they have sent two search and rescue vessels – the BRP San Juan and BRP Nueva Viscaya – and one monitoring-control-surveillance vessel to the area.

The PCG vessels would “conduct maritime patrols and assist marine research vessels contracted by the government through the Department of Energy to undertake marine survey operations in duly specified areas west of Palawan well within Philippine waters,” Tamayo said.

The PCG chief admitted that providing assistance to the government’s energy exploration projects is a “new challenge.”

He added that they would also be beefing up the capability of the PCG Palawan district considering energy exploration projects are mostly in Palawan.

Two Chinese vessels reportedly tried to “sandwich” the Venture in the vicinity of Reed Bank, prompting its crew to radio for help. The Navy sent patrol boats.

Reed Bank is within the country’s 320-kilometer exclusive economic zone, but the area is also being claimed by China and Vietnam.

The Philippine Navy, meanwhile, said it is beefing up patrols in the Kalayaan Islands to ensure the safety of DOE personnel conducting seismic survey in the area.

“We hope our presence in the area will discourage any form of harassments in the future,” Navy chief, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, said.

“As a force provider, we have augmented our patrol ships in the area under the operational control of the Western Command (Wescom),” Pama said.

“This is something for the diplomats to deal with. For us, whether there is an event out there or not, we will continue with our sovereignty patrol as the area is ours,” Pama said.

Pama declined to give the exact number of ships involved in the operations in Kalayaan.

The Philippine Air Force (PAF), on the other hand, has also placed its OV-10 Broncos and reconnaissance planes on standby.

He also said the Navy is in the process of widening the range of its Coast Watch Program to cover country’s territorial waters in Kalayaan.

The Kalayaan group is currently beyond the range of its Coast Watch Program, a project being supported by the United States and Australian governments. The project is aimed at helping the Philippines monitor and detect movements of foreign vessels entering its territorial waters, especially in Mindanao.

“It is beyond the reach of our Coast Watch project for now, but we are in the process of increasing the range to cover the area,” Pama said. With Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan