Palace: No Rody-Xi WPS fishing deal
Clearly, a treaty must be in writing. No such treaty or agreement exists between the Philippines and China.
Malacañang denied Friday that President Rodrigo Duterte and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had a five-year-old fishing deal, even if the Philippine leader spoke on television last year that he had a “mutual agreement” with China allowing its fishermen to trawl within the country’s territory.
Duterte’s spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said the supposed verbal deal was merely a “conjecture,” after retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said the agreement “emboldened” China’s incursions into the Philippine waters.
“There is no truth to the speculation of a purported verbal fishing agreement between President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and President Xi Jin Ping, nor that Chinese vessels were encouraged to stay in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) despite the diplomatic protests and strongly-worded statements of Philippine government officials,” Roque said.
Citing Philippine laws and the Vienna Convention on the Law on Treaties, Roque said a fishing agreement could only be forged through a treaty which must be in a written form.
“Clearly, a treaty must be in writing. No such treaty or agreement exists between the Philippines and China,” the official said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, slammed China anew over the lingering presence and continuous activities of its maritime vessels in the WPS despite the Philippine government’s repeated demand for its withdrawal.
In a statement on Friday, the DFA said the actions of China “blatantly infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign right and jurisdiction” prompting it to launch two new diplomatic protests against the foreign nation.
There were on top of the daily protests lodged by the agency starting 21 March due to the continuous presence of Chinese militia vessels in Julian Felipe Reef.
At least 165 Chinese fishing and militia vessels remain in the Philippine waters, according to the country’s maritime law enforcement agencies.
Of these, 160 Chinese ships were observed within the Philippine exclusive economic zone in the Kalayaan Island Group and around territorial waters of Scarborough Shoal. The remaining five China Coast Guard vessels were deployed near Pag-Asa Island, Panatag Shoal, and Ayungin Shoal.
“Through these protests, the DFA reminded China that Bajo de Masinloc, Pag-Asa Islands, Panata, Parola, Kota Islands, Chigua and Burgos Reefs are integral parts of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction,” the department said.
“The Philippines exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Julian Felipe Reef and Ayungin Shoal,” it added.
The foreign fleets were first seen in the reef on 7 March.
“The continued swarming and threatening presence of the Chinese vessels creates an atmosphere of instability and is a blatant disregard of the commitments of China to promote peace and stability in the region,” the DFA said in a statement.
In June 2019, Duterte claimed that he and Xi agreed during their bilateral meeting in October 2016 that Chinese vessels would no longer block Filipino fishermen from accessing Panatag Shoal, a traditional fishing ground off Zambales.
In exchange, he said the Philippines allowed China to ply its trade in Recto Bank, which is within the country’s exclusive economic zone. Duterte also claimed that Filipino fishermen were allowed access to Panatag Shoal after the deal.
The chief executive even said that Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana were present at his bilateral meeting with Xi.
Duterte disclosed the existence of the supposed deal at the 122nd founding anniversary celebration of the Presidential Security Group after a Filipino fishing boat was sunk by a Chinese vessel near Recto Bank.
The incident left 22 Filipino crew members adrift in the sea for hours before they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen. Duterte downplayed the incident, saying nobody died in the collision.
Then Palace spokesperson Secretary Salvador Panelo, who also serves as Duterte’s chief legal counsel, said the deal was “legally binding” albeit “verbal”.
Duterte, in his 2019 State of the Nation Address, elaborated on this verbal deal by citing the 2016 ruling of the arbitral tribunal that stated that the Philippines may enter into fishing agreements with other countries.
Still, Roque insisted that the President did not condone unlawful commercial fishing of any country on Philippine waters.
“Let us therefore stop making malicious speculations and false claims made to pointlessly inflame the situation,” Roque said.
“We ask everyone to just focus our time and effort on productive activities that will enable us to help one another at this time of pandemic,” he added.
Earlier this week, Carpio, who was part of the team that argued for the Philippines’ maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea before a Hague-based arbitration court, said the diplomatic protests lodged by the Philippines against China were ignored because of the purported fishing deal.