Palace to study joint-exploration of West Philippine Sea with China

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration will study the proposal to conduct joint oil and gas explorations with China in the West Philippine Sea, Malacañang announced yesterday.

“We will study it for now,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in Filipino at a Palace briefing.

Asked if the matter was tackled during the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Angeles replied, “When it comes to foreign relations, especially those involving contracts, we need advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs.”

Former Chinese ambassador Liu Jianchao has expressed hope that the Marcos administration would continue the joint oil and gas discussions with China in the West Philippine Sea.

“I hope that the discussions will continue. I hope both sides will demonstrate some kind of flexibility without prejudicing each other’s claims of their own positions so that the cooperation could happen,” Liu said over the weekend.

Liu, currently the minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made the statement during a dialogue with media organized by the Chinese embassy.

Last June, former foreign affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced that discussions between the Philippines and China to jointly explore for oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea were terminated.

Marcos met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Malacañang in July.

During their meeting, Wang extended Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to Marcos to visit China.

Angeles, at a media briefing last month, said Marcos has accepted Xi’s invitation but there is no date yet for the visit.

Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, cultivated warm ties with Beijing but his administration continued to protest Chinese encroachments and harassment of fishermen in the West Philippine Sea.

China continues to ignore the July 12, 2016 ruling of The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which affirmed the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea and nullified Beijing’s claims over almost the entire South China Sea.

Joint search, rescue drill

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and United States Coast Guard (USCG) will hold a joint search and rescue exercise (SAREX) in the West Philippine Sea on Saturday.

The USCG’s Cutter Midgett, with an estimated 200 officers and crew, arrived at the Eva Macapagal Terminal in Manila’s South Harbor yesterday.

Around 100 PCG personnel aboard BRP Gabriela and BRP Malabrigo will participate in the drill.

PCG fleet commander Rear Admiral Charlie Rances said two possible venues are being considered as the site for the exercises: Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro and the portion of the West Philippine Sea in Zambales.

PCG spokesman Commodore Armando Balilo said they are leaning toward holding the SAREX on Lubang Island.

Through this exercise, Balilo said the PCG and USCG would be able to check their interoperability and quick response capability.

The US has been providing training to PCG personnel and donated equipment to the Philippines.

This is the third time the PCG and USCG would be holding SAREX. The first two drills took place in 2019 and 2020.

US Ambassador MaryKay Loss Carlson welcomed the USCG’s vessel in Manila, saying, “There is no stronger reflection of our bilateral alliance than the visit and exchanges between our uniformed services.”

“The US Coast Guard is a vital and growing part of these interactions and we plan to expand the USCG engagement in the Philippines over the months and years to come,” she added.

USCG Cutter Midgett’s skipper Willie Carmichael said they are looking forward to the joint exercise with the PCG.

The officers USCG will also take part in the Brigada Eskwela at the Jose Rizal Elementary School in Tayuman, Tondo tomorrow.

Sea dispute

The European Union (EU) has expressed its full support toward promoting and ensuring peace and order in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

EU Ambassador Luc Véron met with Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Senior Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. last week at Camp Aguinaldo.

DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong said Veron and Faustino both agreed to the preservation of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Véron and Faustino said the peaceful settlement of disputes must be pursued, with the EU official ensuring that “these principles remain in line with the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy.”

Andolong said Faustino welcomed the increasing engagements of the EU in the region and looks forward to working with the EU in the future.

Both officials also welcomed the positive developments in the bilateral relations between the EU and the Philippines, as well as the EU’s interest in defense and security cooperation with partner countries in the ASEAN region.

Andolong said Véron also shared the EU’s political commitment to working with ASEAN and looks forward to receiving the Philippine delegation for the commemoration of the 45th ASEAN-EU anniversary at Brussels, Belgium in December.

Faustino expressed appreciation for the EU’s assistance to the Philippines’ disaster relief operations. – Evelyn Macairan, Michael Punongbayan