Recto Bank – ellen tordesillas

Composition of joint exploration working group expected during Xi-Duterte meeting

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2019

President Duterte welcomes China’s President Xi Jinping in Malacanang in November 2018.

The PH-China Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development, considered a breakthrough in the jagged relationship of the Philippines and China, is expected to move forward when the two governments submit the names who will compose the Working Group during the bilateral meeting of President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China on Thursday.

The exchange of names of members of the Working Group is provided for in the Terms of Reference (TOR) on Inter-Governmental Joint Steering Committee and Inter-Entrepreneurial Working Group between the Philippines and China which was signed by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi three weeks ago.

The Working group will negotiate and agree on” inter-entrepreneurial commercial and technical arrangements” that will be conducted in the area of the joint exploration that will be undertaken jointly by the Philippines and China in Philippine waters.

Floy Quintos pays tribute to the quiet courage of Junel Insigne

Published by Ellen on June 23, 2019

The captain and cook of fishing boat Gem-Ver with Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in a press conference.

Writer Floy Quintos wrote this poem after he watched Junel Insigne, captain of the fishing boat Gem-Ver, which was rammed by a Chinese fishing boat midnight of June 9, beside Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in a press conference June 19.

Insigne, who had insisted the ramming by the Chinese vessel was intentional and denounced the Chinese for abandoning them in the high seas near Recto Bank at midnight, became unsure of what happened during the press conference with Piñol.

Insigne also apologized to President Duterte for thinking that the ”invitation” which he declined came from Malacañang.

Some ridiculed Insigne. Some pitied him. Some were enraged.

Quintos sensed something deep in the forlorn demeanor of Insigne which inspired him to write this searing piece:

A test in finding sanity amid Duterte’s incoherence

Published by Ellen on June 18, 2019

President Duterte talks about the sinking of Filipino fishing boat by Chinese vessel during during the 121st Philippine Navy Anniversary at the Naval Base Heracleo Alano in Cavite City on June 17, 2019. Malacañang photo by Simeon Celi, Jr.

President Duterte dismissed what happened in Reed Bank on June 9 where a Chinese fishing boat “Yuemaobinyu 42212” rammed a Philippine fishing boat, F/B Gimver 1 which threw the 22 Filipino fishermen into the waters in the darkness of the night until they were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat, as just a “maritime incident.”

“Banggaan lang ng barko ‘yan,” Duterte said at the121ST anniversary of the Philippine at Sangley Sangley Point in Cavite City, Monday, finally breaking his eight-day silence that has riled up concerned citizens over what many perceive as his subservience to China.

Yet he also said he does not want to issue a statement “because there is no investigation and there is no result.”

I’m reproducing here portions of his speech about the incident. This is a test in finding sanity amid the incoherence:

Roque is best adviser to Duterte on joint exploration with China

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2018

Pres. Duterte congratulates Harry Roque as his spokesperson

It’s good that President Duterte has Harry Roque with him as he seems to have been convinced by China to start the joint exploration in Reed Bank also known as Recto Bank – an undertaking that China had been wanting to do and had been generous with its enticement to the Philippine government.

In an interview with Karen Davila in ANC’s Headstart, Roque, presidential spokesperson, said the cooperation with China will be taking off from “the result of a joint maritime seismic exploration agreement. This will now actually entail joint exploration and possible exploitation of natural resources.”

“We have gone beyond determining if there are resources” and “The only issue is now, is it commercially viable,” he said.

Roque and Davila were talking about the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking or JMSU entered into by the Philippines, China and Vietnam on March 14, 2005.

Again, the risks of joint exploration in PH EEZ

Published by Ellen on March 7, 2018

A day after President Duterte talked about” joint exploration” and “co-ownership” with the Chinese last Feb. 28 in Marawi City, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was with Karen Davila in ANC’s Headstart.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque talks about joint exploration in PH EEZ with China in Headstart hosted by Karen Davila

Davila was following up this statement by Duterte: “Ngayon offer nila joint exploration, di parang co-ownership. Parang dalawa tayong may-ari niyan. Eh,di mas maganda,yan kaysa away. (Now their offer is joint exploration which is like co-ownership. It’s like both of us are owners. That good, better than fighting.)”

Chinese firm rejects MVP offer for share in PH project in Reed Bank

Published by Ellen on March 9, 2014

Phikex Petroleum President Manuel V. Pangilinan

(First of two parts)

By Theresa Martelino-Reyes, VERA Files

A state-owned Chinese oil firm has rejected the proposal of business tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan to invest in a contract to drill in the disputed Reed Bank but welcomed “innovative” proposals on how it can participate, according to a memorandum Pangilinan submitted to President Benigno Aquino.

State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) turned down the offer made by Pangilinan, chairman and chief executive officer of Philex Petroleum Corp, in a meeting on May 2, 2012.

“A Farm-In Agreement into SC 72 (which Philex previously suggested to them) is not acceptable given the sovereignty issue,” Pangilinan reported to Aquino in an aide memoire submitted to the President on May 7, 2012. The contents of the aide memoire, obtained by VERA Files, have not been made public since it was submitted to the President.

SC 72 refers to Service Contract 72, signed in 2010, in which the Philippine government awarded Forum Energy Plc. (FEP) exploration rights to a basin within Reed Bank. Philex owns 64.45 percent of FEP, a London-based listed oil and gas exploration firm focused on the Philippines. FEP in turn owns 70 percent of SC 72.

A farm-in agreement is a contract signed between the owner of the “farm” and its exploration partner. Accepting such an arrangement could be interpreted as CNOOC accepting the Philippines as “owner” of Reed Bank.