fficials of the Gloria
administration knew from the start that the 2004 agreement with China to explore
for oil in "disputed" areas in the South China Sea was contrary to the
Constitution which reserves the right to exploit natural resources to Filipino
nationals. This was the reason the agreement, which initially referred to the
joint undertaking as "exploration," was packaged as a scientific study in the
form of a seismic survey.
Nobody who has a nodding acquaintance with oil exploration
was fooled by the change in nomenclature. A seismic survey involves detonating
explosives on the earth’s surface (whether onshore or offshore). The waves
propagated are recorded. When processed the waves are able to generate a
tri-dimensional pictures of geological structures under the surface. There are
extensive data on what structures are potentially oil-bearing.
Nobody knows for sure, however, whether there are indeed oil
deposits trapped in the structures. One has to drill and after oil is found, it
has to be determined whether extracting it is commercially viable.
As we earlier said, there is nothing objectionable in a
"condominium" arrangement where exploration and subsequent exploitation cover
overlapping territorial claims. The Kalayaan Group is one such disputed area
although it has been occupied by the Philippines since the early 1980s upon the
initiative of Ferdinand Marcos.
But the agreement includes areas which are clearly inside
Philippine territory as delineated in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, jeopardizing
existing and future commitments of the government.
This is not a hypothetical case. A huge block offshore
Palawan has long been awarded for geophysical survey and exploration to the
British firm Forum Plc. Forum last year sought the conversion of its claim into
a service contract, meaning it wanted to do exploratory drilling. The energy
department rejected Forum’s application, citing the 2004 agreement with China.
The Palace is arguing that no harm has been done as the
agreement expires in June and the country can always choose not to extend it.
This only shows a failure to think through the consequences of entering into the
agreement.
China has indeed been claiming areas 12 miles from the shores
of Palawan as its own by historic right. By agreeing to include the area in the
coverage of the agreement, the Philippines has effectively taken official
cognizance of the China’s claim that it owns the whole South China Sea.
In so doing, the Gloria administration has made the
Philippines a scab among the member-countries of the Asean whose territories are
also outrageously claimed by China on the basis of historic right.
Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States
for $20 million. What was the price for this one? That is the question.
