Business groups to China: Remove ships from WPS
Eight business organizations have expressed support for calls made to China to pull out its vessels from Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.
In a joint statement yesterday, business groups Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Management Association of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development, Filipina CEO Circle, Judicial Reform Initiative, Cebu Business Club and Iloilo Business Club Inc. said they are backing the calls made by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other government officials for China to withdraw overstaying vessels from Julian Felipe Reef.
The Philippines has filed new diplomatic protests against China after the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) found some 240 Chinese ships in various parts of the country’s maritime zones despite repeated demands for them to withdraw from the area.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said two diplomatic protests were filed against China and sent out yesterday.
“One counts as the daily protest we said we would do as long as there are ships by Julian Felipe Reef and the second one is on the dispersal/
displacement of Chinese ships to other parts of Philippine maritime zones,” said DFA executive director for strategic communications Ivy Banzon-Abalos.
The business groups said Julian Felipe Reef is historically and by law a territory of the Philippines, as clearly established in the 2016 ruling based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Along with the exclusive right over the reef also known as Whitsun Reef, is the utilization and obligation to protect its economic benefits such as the rich marine life and mineral deposits for the Filipinos.
The groups said China and the Philippines have many things in common, including being under colonizers and having their natural resources plundered.
“Now that China is strong economically and militarily, we call on China to refrain from becoming an imperial power,” the groups said.
They also cited part of a 1974 speech made by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping: “If one day China should change her color and turn into a superpower, if she too should play the tyrant in the world and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should expose it, oppose it and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it.”
The businessmen called on Chinese authorities to respect the sovereignty of the Philippines and other neighboring countries “for it is only through peaceful co-existence that we can achieve prosperity for all.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. ordered his department to fire another round of diplomatic protests based on an ABS-CBN News report on Chinese vessels “swarming” in various reefs and islands within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The DFA vowed to file a diplomatic protest every day until the last Chinese ship has left the reef.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the NTF-WPS said at least 240 Chinese ships were found in various parts of the West Philippine Sea as it denounced the continuous swarming of Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels in the Philippines’ EEZ.
“The Philippine government reiterates its demand upon China to withdraw all its vessels from the Municipality of Kalayaan and the Philippine EEZ,” the NTF-WPS said as it called on China to respect Philippine sovereignty.
The Western Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported the presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the territorial waters of the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan and the EEZ.
The NTF-WPS said “the continuous swarming of Chinese vessels poses a threat to the safety of navigation, safety of life at sea and impedes the exclusive right of Filipinos to benefit from the marine wealth in the EEZ.”
People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels were spotted during the patrols, which included PLAN Houbei class missile warships at Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, a Corvette class warship at Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, and one Navy tugboat at Zamora (Subi) Reef.
There were also two PLAN vessels, three and 10 Chinese maritime militia vesels at the Bajo Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), as well as two Chinese coast guard vessels seen in the territorial sea of the Pag-asa islands.
“All of these warships of the PLAN contritribute to the militarization of the area,” the NTF-WPS said in a statement.
At Malacañang, President Duterte’s spokesman assured the public that the government is working to protect Filipino fishermen and the country’s marine resources.
“The (NTF) has always been consistent in invoking Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights over (the West Philippine Sea),” Harry Roque said, noting Duterte had cited the importance of the 2016 arbitral ruling before the 75th UN General Assembly.
The DFA, through acting Undersecretary Elizabeth Buensuceso, summoned on Monday Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to express the Philippines’ “displeasure over the illegal lingering presence of Chinese vessels in Julian Felipe Reef.”
Julian Felipe Reef is part of the Kalayaan Island Group and lies within the EEZ of the Philippines. It is located 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza town in Palawan and more than 638 nautical miles from Hainan Island.
‘UNCLOS may collapse’
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) will collapse if China succeeds in taking the South China Sea, retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio warned yesterday.
During a virtual forum organized by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute, Carpio explained that China has resorted to “might is right” by claiming almost the entire South China Sea in “glaring violation of UNCLOS.”
According to Carpio, UNCLOS has introduced novel concepts such as the EEZ and the International Seabed Authority, which regulates the resources in the seabed beyond national jurisdictions.
The compulsory dispute mechanism of UNCLOS is one of the greatest advances in international law when it was signed in 1982, and that under the convention “right is might.”
Raise it to Asean
The Duterte administration must exhaust all diplomatic efforts to protect the West Philippine Sea from intrusions from China, including raising the reported swarming of Chinese militia vessels in the area before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or the United Nations, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said yesterday.
“If the tension further escalates we can include bringing the matter to the ASEAN and even the UN,” Pangilinan said.
Senators earlier called for a review of the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US to see what “options” are available to the Philippines amid raised tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has expressed full support for the move of the DFA to file diplomatic protests for every encroachment in the sea.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros lauded the DFA for summoning the Chinese ambassador and taking him to task with regard to the escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
“I thank the DFA for stressing our 2016 Hague victory and for making it clear, directly to the ambassador, that China’s sweeping territorial claims are without legal basis,” said Hontiveros.
At the House of Representatives, a senior administration lawmaker yesterday filed a resolution condemning the continued harassment of Filipinos by Chinese forces within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile EEZ.
Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon filed House Resolution 1707 involving an incident on April 8 where a group of journalists on board a civilian vessel were told not to encroach on alleged Chinese territorial waters, actually the West Philippine Sea.
“The incident is part of continuing actions of the People’s Republic of China to harass Filipinos in waters where they have the right to pass and exploit under international law,” he said.
– With Pia Lee-Brago, Romina Cabrera, Alexis Romero, Paolo Romero, Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe