Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay clarified his previous statement on the planned joint exploration with China over the contested West Philippine Sea, elaborating that he meant the sharing of resources could be possible "in the near future" but in "accordance with the UNCLOS".
His statement was issued after he declared in a forum that the Philippines is ready to negotiate with China on joint exploration of oil and fishery resources in the disputed sea, which drew flak among netizens.
"What I said is we have to wait for the ruling and study and dissect its implication," Yasay said in a statement released on Saturday morning.
He pointed out that, since the ruling, expected on July 12, Tuesday, will not cover issues of "sovereignty and delimitation", it would be possible that some claimant countries will be open for joint of exploration.
"As the ruling will not address sovereignty and delimitation, it is possible that, at some time in the future, claimant countries might consider entering into arrangements, such as joint exploration and utilization of resources in disputed areas that do not prejudice the parties' claims and delimitation of boundaries in accordance with UNCLOS (United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea)," Yasay explained.
UNCLOS is a binding agreement signed by nine-member of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, including China, where countries have exclusive maritime rights to explore and exploit resources within it 200 nautical miles economic exclusive zone (EEZ)
Yasay also hinted that the Permanent Court of Arbitration does not have "any enforcement power" for a plan of shared resources.
"Since the PCA does not have any enforcement powers, any overlapping claims awarded can be best implemented by negotiating for an agreement with other claimants that could possibly include the joint exploration and utilization of the resources in the disputed area," Yasay said.
The Philippines' move for arbitration, under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III and filed in January 2013, urged the United Nations to invalidate China's controversial so-called nine-dash line policy, a horse-shaped line found in ancient Chinese maps supposedly showing Beijing's claimed territory in the West Philippine Sea.
http://interaksyon.com/article/130154/yasay-sharing-of-west-ph-sea-will-be-in-accordance-with-unclos-ruling
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