Category: South China Sea

by Wendell Vigilia
Malaya

The chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs said yesterday China’s opposition to the bill defining the Philippines’ boundaries prevented the chamber from approving the measure despite the deadline set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Lakas, Cebu) said Beijing expressed its objection to House Bill 3216 in a “note” to the Philippine embassy in Beijing last December.

“China is shocked by and gravely concerned with this negative development. We request the clarification from the Philippine side,” said the two-page letter which was faxed to Cuenco’s office by Ambassador Sonia Brady.

My concerns were addressed – Gutierrez

Golez asks if the Philippines is getting correct information from Chinese group.

Former President of the Philippine National Oil Corporation Eduardo Mañalac, the signatory in the controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking with China and Vietnam admitted that the seismic survey being undertaken in the South China Sea and in the territorial waters of the Philippines can be considered exploration.

“If you ask me as a geologist it (seismic survey) is one part of the overall exploration,” Mañalac said in his press conference Monday even as he insisted that the tripartite agreement is aboveboard. He said he signed the agreement after he was told that the agreement was legal.

Binay: Review an admission of agreement’s infirmities

by Regina Bengco
Malaya

A Malacañang legal team is studying whether to push through with the 2005 Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) agreement with China and Vietnam on the disputed South China Sea.

Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said the study was prompted by the “political noise” that President Arroyo might have committed treason by allowing the joint exploration of the disputed islands in exchange for loan agreements worth billions of dollars from China.

1.Transcript of July 2006 interview with then PNOC President Eduardo Mañalac, the signatory to the JMSU:

13jul06-interview-manalac.doc

2.Transcript of Sept. 2005 interview with then Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla:

23sept05-interview-with-energy-secretary-raphael-lotilla.doc

1. Click here http://www.ellentordesillas.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/rp_china.pdf for the Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in certain Areas in the South China Sea by and Between China National…

Lumabas ngayon sa dokumento ng Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) na hindi lang ang mga isla na inaangkin natin ang kasama. Pati na rin mga 24,000 square kilomters na sakop sa teritoryo ng Pilipinas.

Kaya mabuti na rin na dahil sa eskandalo ng NBN/ZTE kung saan ang $139 milyon na telecomunications project ay naging $329 milyon dahil sa mga komisyon ng mga kampon ni Gloria Arroyo (kasama na rin siguro siya), napunta na ang usapan sa Spratlys island.