'Loose lips sink ships'

On July 25 this year, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III declared in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the opening of the second regular session of the 15th Congress that “what is in the Philippines is for the Philippines.” Of course, President Aquino was specifically talking about our territorial claims over the chain of islands, islets, atolls, shoals, reefs, and lately, banks in the disputed South China Sea.

Aside from the Philippines, the South China Sea territorial conflict also involves other claimant countries like China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. For our own purposes, we now call the disputed mineral-rich and fishing grounds as the West Philippine Sea.

The President declared with much bravado: “Malinaw ang pahiwatig natin ngayon sa buong mundo: Ang sa Pilipinas ay sa Pilipinas; kapag tumapak ka sa Recto Bank, para ka na ring tumapak sa Recto Avenue (It’s very clear now what we want the world to know: What is in the Philippines is for the Philippines; once you stepped on Recto Bank, it’s like you’re stepping on Recto Avenue, too).”

At least, that’s the rough translation of his all-Tagalog SONA heard by members of the diplomatic community who were among the audience in the gallery. President Aquino referred to the Recto Bank in the South China Sea known by its international name as Reed Bank. A bank, as defined in the dictionary, is a raised area of land below water. The presidential mention of the Recto Bank in the SONA came on the heels of an incident in March this year.

A Chinese war vessel reportedly “harassed” Philippine civilian ships conducting marine/seismic research in Recto Bank. The Department of Energy that commissioned the research study reported the incident to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well as to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

A flurry of diplomatic calls and messages ensued between the Chinese embassy in Manila and the DFA. Tensions eased after top-level talks tried to iron out the latest irritant on Sept. 3 this year when President Aquino made a state visit to China. He met with his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao, and agreed on the need for peaceful dialogue to resolve the overlapping claims on the Spratlys. 

Nothing changed though in the respective positions of both countries as China still insists on bilateral solution among the claimant countries while the Philippines and fellow ASEAN member states continue to call for a multilateral approach through a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea.

Last Monday, a Philippine Navy patrol ship scared away a Chinese fishing vessel while towing 20 or so dinghies in Recto Bank after it nearly rammed into it due to a steering problem. Two days later, Defense Department official spokesman Zosimo Paredes disclosed the Philippine Navy supposedly “apologized” to the Chinese embassy for the incident.

As soon as Paredes made this claim before the media that day, no less than DFA Secretary Alberto del Rosario immediately issued an official statement, saying, “No apologies were necessary and none was given.”

For all the tough talk being dished out by President Aquino and top Philippine government officials regarding our country’s every intention to assert our territorial claims over the disputed Spratly chain of islands, it behooves them to be consistent to match all this braggadocio. 

Official spokespersons talking out of synch with official pronouncements and declarations by our national leaders won’t help us any to gain support for our cause before the international community. Loose lips sink ships. Our country cannot afford such loose lips among Aquino’s official spokespersons, especially when talking about our country’s claims on the West Philippine Sea.

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The following are verbatim excerpts from a three-page, single-spaced letter sent by lawyers Luis Angel Aseoche and Neil Jerome representing themselves as counsels for Sanyo Seiki Stainless Steel Corp. (SSSSC) on the smuggling case filed against the company by the Bureau of Customs. Their client was mentioned in my column last Monday as having filed before the Office of the President an administrative case and a separate graft case against eight officials of the Customs bureau’s anti-smuggling group. Since their letter is very long, only the portions pertinent to my column are printed below:

“First, our client, Sanyo Seiki Stainless Steel Corporation, maintains its innocence to allegations that it is engaged in smuggling. Sanyo Seiki has never engaged in any form of smuggling or illegal activity since its incorporation in the year 1995 up to the present. On the contrary, Sanyo Seiki is a victim of a hastily trumped-up complaint by the Run after the Smugglers Group (RATS) which appears to be under pressure ‘to produce’ a smuggler every week, pursuant to a weekly ‘shame campaign’ by the revenue-raising agencies of the government… 

“Our client has personal experience of the shakedowns perpetrated by members of the BOC, including individuals who represent themselves as acting for and on behalf of BOC RATS Director Deputy Commissioner Gregorio Chavez. These persons in public office conspire with several private individuals, including customs brokers, in demanding from Sanyo Seiki the amount of P179 million, later on lowered to P40-50 million in exchange for the withdrawal of the DOJ complaint which the BOC earlier filed, the release of several shipments it previously seized, and an end to interference with the business of Sanyo Seiki or, in pedestrian parlance, ‘pre-paid extortion.’

“These extortionate acts necessarily compelled Sanyo Seiki to file criminal and administrative complaint against members of the RATS and other private individuals before the Office of the Ombudsman on June 29, 2011.

“However, barely two (2) days after the filing of said complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, Sanyo Seiki was subjected to a string of harassment by the RATS. These acts include two (2) attempted raids of Sanyo Seiki’s warehouses on July 1, 2011 and July 4, 2011 using defective mission orders, a 24/7 ‘stakeout’ of the premises of Sanyo Seiki’s warehouse, and seizure of Sanyo Seiki’s truck without a warrant.”

This is their side on these cases and we leave them to the proper bodies for resolution.