Will backlash force Duterte to retreat from South China Sea oil exploration deal with Beijing?
- The Philippine leader is willing to ‘ignore’ a decision on sovereignty claims by an international tribunal at The Hague so he can strike a deal with China to jointly extract resources
- But in the face of a public backlash, his spokesman has now denied the president plans to ‘set aside’ the UN ruling
“Everything is still under study,” Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo told a local radio station. “Technical committees from the two countries still have to meet to discuss the terms of reference, conditions and whatever else the joint exploration will cover. There’s plenty to talk about.”
“The exclusive economic zone is part of the arbitral ruling, which we will ignore to come up with an economic activity [with Beijing],” Duterte’s statement said.
That zone encompasses seas up to 200 nautical miles (370km) from a country’s coastline inside which it has the sole rights to exploration and use of marine resources under UN law.
Duterte’s South China Sea U-turn: climbdown, or clever gambit for oil?
Duterte quoted Xi as saying: “Set aside the arbitral ruling, set aside your claim.”
But the possibility that the Philippine leader might step back from the decision of the tribunal at The Hague has unleashed a backlash from both the public and top officials.
On Friday Philippine Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio issued a statement warning Duterte about his use of words.
“In law, to ‘set aside’ a ruling is to abandon, overrule, reverse or annul ... The president, under Philippine law, has no authority to ‘set aside’ the arbitral ruling,” Carpio said.
‘Any suggestion?’ Duterte asks after Xi reaffirms South China Sea claims
But Panelo said Duterte had only meant the “ruling is still subject to peaceful talks” with Beijing. Foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr denied the Philippines would drop The Hague’s decision. He tweeted: “China has never made setting aside the arbitral award a prerequisite to anything, but on the contrary, China agrees with the Philippines to disagree on their respective claims.”
According to Robredo, “entering into any agreement should not come at the expense of upholding our rights to the West Philippine Sea”, as eastern parts of the South China Sea are known to Manila.
Concern over the contentious sovereignty debate has even spread to unlikely corners of society. On a midday variety television show last week, a six-year-old boy was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, to which he replied with a smile: “A soldier ... to defeat China so it won’t grab our waters.”
The youngster said Beijing was trying to seize Philippine seas because it wanted the fish and sea turtles. Asked where he had obtained this information, the boy responded: “On TV.”
A video clip on Twitter of the exchange has racked up 394,000 views.
