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The Philippines and China's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on oil and gas cooperation in the South China Sea had enough safeguards in it to protect Philippine sovereignty, acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio told GMA News.
“ We did not seed (cede-Lord Pelu hihihihih
) any ground... I have no objection to it. I think the [Department of Foreign Affairs] did a good job in protecting our position, and I think it’s just an agreement to explore an agreement,” explained Carpio.
Furthermore, the arrangement was beneficial for the Philippines because it used the service contract as a vehicle for the MOU.
“That means that if it’s a service contractor, China will have to deal with our service contractors. They would have to enter into a subcontracting agreement with our service contractors," Carpio elaborated further.
"The good thing there, since we’re using the service contract as a vehicle, then that recognizes that the area being explored or exploited belongs to the Philippines, either EEZ or within our jurisdiction. Because the service contract acknowledges that area is under the sovereign rights of the Philippines.”
Likewise, maritime law expert and professor Atty. Jay Batongbacal was pleased that included in the MOU was the condition that both parties needed to agree on cooperation arrangements within 12 months.
Batongbacal pointed out that by setting a deadline, the Philippines, which needed the additional energy resources the most, would benefit from the arrangement.
“Kasi tayo, nangangailangan na magkaron ng aksyon on this. Habang sila wala talagang urgency talaga. They can get their energy sources else where in the world,” the maritime expert argued.
However, Carpio emphasized that once the MOU developed into an actual agreement for joint exploration, the Philippine government needed to be transparent about it.
“We should be vigilant. But we have good lawyers in the DFA, we have foreign advisers. And the thing is, any draft should be publicized before it is signed,” said Carpio. — DVM
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