BY WENDELL VIGILIA

THERE might be no need to review the controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and Vietnam as the data acquisition in the South China Sea appears to have been already completed, Rep. Roilo Golez (Ind., Parañaque) said yesterday.

"These talks from Malacañang about extension or termination may be moot and academic," Golez said.

The JMSU, which was signed in 2005, involves the Philippine National Oil Co., the China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PetroVietnam).

Malacañang has formed a legal team to study whether to push through with the second phase of the JMSU following reports that President Arroyo might have committed treason by allowing the joint exploration of disputed islands in exchange for loan agreements worth billions of dollars from China.

Golez quoted an article of China’s People’s Daily Online which reported on Nov. 20, 2005 that the China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) had already completed the seismic data acquisition through its exploration ship codenamed Nanshai 502.

"The ship accomplished the mission within only 75 days, instead of eight months, according to Li Xunke, vice president of COSL," the report said.

The news report said COSL won the contract for data acquisition with a competitive bid in August and thereafter, the Vietnamese and the Philippine companies got the contracts for data processing and interpretation.

Since the basic data acquisition was handled by COSL, a subsidiary of the CNOOC, Golez said the country might have already lost valuable information from the supposed joint survey.

"I reiterate my question on whether the PNOC is getting complete data on very strategic information on our natural resources, with a CNOOC subsidiary, not an independent survey group, handling the survey," he said.

Golez said the COSL’s data acquisition gives rise to speculations that the Philippine government may have sold out the country’s territorial claims on the disputed Spratlys to the Chinese.

"I cannot understand why PNOC and the Philippine government did not demand an independent survey group," he said.

The People’s Daily Online report reported in the same article that China, the Philippines and Vietnam had already celebrated the completion of seismic data acquisition in the South China Sea, "witnessing the first milestone of international joint efforts to uncover energy sources in the region."

It also quoted CNOOC vice president Zhu Weilin as saying "there were 11,000 kilometers of sensor cable deployed on the seabed in this mission, covering an area of around 140,000 square kilometers."

Malacañang said the Energy department is not keen on extending the JMSU because there are no moves from China and Vietnam to renegotiate the agreement.

The three-year JMSU expires on June 30.

Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said the Palace legal team, which is studying whether there should be a second phase of the agreement, does not have a recommendation yet.

Apostol said Monday that the Exploration Corp. of the Philippine National Oil Co. has asked Malacañang to study whether it is wise to renegotiate the contract, following the "political noise" it has generated. The study began last week.

Apostol also said the JMSU could not be made public because it would violate the provision in the contract that details of the agreement should not be made public.

He said the JMSU is a "commercial paper" and that revealing its contents would tip off "other groups who are interested in getting the area."

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who is part of the legal team, said the decision of whether there would be a renegotiation depends on whether the joint "seismic study" has resulted in "substantial finds" of potential energy in the area.

Gonzalez said it is only when there is finding of potential energy that the constitutional issue would come into play.

National security adviser Norberto Gonzales said the Spratlys issue should not be colored by partisan politics.

He said it is better to have a joint effort which other claimant countries rather than "every country trying to sneak out from the rest and doing something."

DIPLOMACY IS BETTER

Navy vice commander Rear Adm. Amable Tolentino supported the government’s decision to enter into a joint seismic study saying diplomacy is better than going into war.

"From a student of regional security, diplomacy is still the best. We avoid war as much as possible. Exploitation of resources by each country, once it overlaps your jurisdiction, there is a possibility of war," Tolentino said after the turnover of two-newly refurbished Navy ships at the Navy headquarters in Manila.

POLITICAL RIPPLES

Speaker Prospero Nograles sought to allay fears that the controversial deal might damage the country’s diplomatic ties with China.