By Prince Golez
The government will continue to communicate with Beijing over rights and concerns on the Malampaya natural gas fields to avert future conflicts, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Thursday.
“The only way to resolve the issues that are outstanding is to once again keep talking and to come to a consensus to come to an agreement and to continue to negotiate,” Marcos Jr. said during an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
“It is not an easy process but the Malampaya fields, natural gas fields that lie in our, within our baselines and within our exclusive economic zone and that again is being questioned in certain cases, in certain areas by China and we continue to negotiate with them,” he added.
The Chinese government, according to the President, has claimed particular areas that are already recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as part of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
“The nine dash line covers just about the entire West Philippine Sea. We, on the other hand, have established our baselines which have been recognized and accredited by UNCLOS and therefore there is that conflict and so what happens now especially when it comes to exploration in — for energy — for our energy needs are which law will apply because we say this is part of Philippine territory and therefore Philippine law should apply,” he added
However, Marcos Jr. stated that both parties are “slowly inching towards a resolution” regarding their claims on the Malampaya fields.
“It may have to come down to a compromise that will just limit that application, the application of laws maybe to the vessels that are involved in this exploration and exploitation of whatever natural gas fields we can access,” the chief executive said.
He also noted that it is just one of the suggestions both parties are looking into to resolve the issue.
“There is no silver bullet where you say, we’ll do this and it’s done. As I said, we are inching slowly towards the resolution and that’s why we must be constant, we must be transparent and we must be accountable for all that we do. And I cannot see any other way to handle the problem other than that,” said Marcos Jr.
The Malampaya gas field is an offshore gas-condensate reservoir 65 kilometers northwest of the island of Palawan.
