THE Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs headed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita is asking for more time to craft its recommendations on the possible extension of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) among the Philippines, China and Vietnam on the Spratly islands in 2005.

Ermita said the Department of Energy, particularly the Philippine National Oil Co., needs about two more weeks to submit its recommendation to Malacañang.

He said the PNOC should give its suggestions "as soon as possible" because of the brewing tension surrounding the issue and allegations that government neglect is now threatening to jeopardize the country's territorial claims.

The JMSU involves the PNOC, the China National Offshore Oil Co. and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (Petro Vietnam). Its purpose was a joint exploratory oil drilling in the Spratlys.

Critics of President Arroyo have said she could be liable for treason as the agreement was in exchange for questionable loans from China worth billions of dollars.

Ermita said the CMOA is still discussing the archipelagic baseline issue or House Bill 3216 which is pending at the House.

Under HB 3216, the country's archipelagic baseline would include the Kalayaan Island Group and the Scarborough Shoal which are also being claimed by other countries aside from China.

The Philippines has until May 13, 2009 to submit to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea for its claims for an extended continental shelf.

Ermita said the CMOA has been meeting weekly to discuss the country's claims and archipelagic baselines.

The vice chairmen of CMOA are Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.

Member agencies of CMOA are the departments of defense, environment, energy, budget, transportation, tourism, and trade, the National Security Council, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, National Mapping and Resources Information Authority and Coast Guard.

The House leadership will not block the plan of Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Lakas, Cebu), chair of the foreign affairs committee, to move for the approval of HB 3216 on third and final reading when sessions resume next month.

"If the committee chairman wants to put it to a vote, the House leadership will not stop him. It is our policy that the leadership will always support the committee chairmen," Speaker Prospero Nograles said.

Nograles dismissed fears that the approval of the archipelagic bill might antagonize China.

"This is a foreign affairs matter. I don't think we are violating any international law by going into it. What we are approving is only defining our baselines. The others may define their baselines also," he said.

He said conflicts that may arise will be settled by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"If they (other countries) draw their baselines and we do not draw our baselines, baka buong Pilipinas isama na nila, baka tayo ang mawalan. These are procedural matters which the international body has venues for settlement of conflicts between nations," he said.

Cuenco has said HB 3216 could not be sent back to the panel for further deliberations and will be passed when Congress resumes sessions. "We will proceed with the approval of the bill. We will not be pressured by anyone."

Cuenco said based on his study of the House rules and precedence, it became "clear to me that when you approve a measure on second reading, you can't recommit the bill anymore." The measure can be recommitted to the committee only with the unanimous consent of the House.

Without a formal motion on the floor to recommit the bill to his panel, Cuenco said majority leader Arthur Defensor will have to proceed with the approval of the bill on third and final reading.

He said the House leadership will surely come under fire if it does not push through with the voting, especially since the measure is urgent.

Cuenco has been planning to file a substitute bill that would exclude the disputed Spratly islands and Scarborough Shoal from the country's territorial claim and treat them as mere "regime islands" in the light of China's strong opposition to the measure.

China had expressed its opposition to HB 3216 in a "note" to the Philippine embassy in Beijing last December.

The note reiterated China "has undisputable sovereignty over Nansha islands (Kalayaan Group of Islands) including Scarborough Shoal and its adjacent waters."

It said the passage of the bill, despite the Philippines' signing of the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in South China Sea, "will not be conducive to the stability in the SCS and will also disturb China-Philippine cooperation in the area, exerting negative impact on the healthy development of our bilateral relations." - Regina Bengco and Wendell Vigilia