President Aquino has no plan to visit the country’s disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea to avoid raising tension in the area.

The President admitted that going to the disputed territory would not help the country’s cause and might even provoke an adverse reaction from the claimant states.

“I don’t think I have to do that,” Aquino said during an interview with Manila Bulletin in Malacañang when asked if he will visit the area to assert the country’s claim.

“We keep reminding our counterparts that there is a section 5 in the DOC (Declaration of Conduct) that asks all signatories to refrain from activities that will escalate. Now if I go there, they will have to have an appropriate response and I don’t think their response will deescalate and they will say we provoked it so that does not help our cause,” he added.

Aquino was referring to a paragraph of 2002 ASEAN- China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) which states that all Parties should exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate and escalate disputes and affect peace and stability.

The country’ incoming President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier said he would ride a jet ski to a disputed island and plant a Philippine flag in the area. Duterte has also expressed openness to holding bilateral talks with China to settle the maritime dispute.

Amid China’s excessive territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea, the President maintained his administration opts to resolve the maritime conflict peacefully and within the rule of law. He noted that the country’s position has gained support in the international community.

For now, Aquino said an arbitration case has been filed before a United Nations tribunal to clarify the country’s maritime entitlements, insisting that China’s nine-dash claim was baseless.

A map of the Philippines was even presented by the President during the media interview to show that Panatag Shoal or Scarborough Shoal, which is being claimed by China, clearly falls within the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Asked if he was confident of a favorable ruling, the President declined to preempt the international court, saying “baka mausog.”

Aquino said he hopes China would not defy the international ruling on the South China Sea arbitration case. He said Beijing will be “hard-pressed” to explain why it could not abide by the decision if it supposedly adheres to international law.

“It has implications on any or all agreements that they will enter into with anybody. At the end of the day, the great equalizer amongst nations, big and small, is the concept of the rule of law,” he said.

China has refused to take part in the arbitration proceedings, saying it prefers to settle the dispute through bilateral talks. The tribunal is expected to hand out its ruling on the matter in the coming months.

The President, however, was not amenable to bilateral talks with China on the SCS since there are other states with overlapping claims in the area.

Aside from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have also staked claims to parts of the South China Sea, nearly all of which is claimed by China.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Genalyn Kabiling

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