December 11, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will never be part of the escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), President Marcos declared yesterday as he rejected the deployment of Navy warships despite China’s persistent aggression within Philippine waters.
“We are not at war. We don’t need Navy warships,” he said. “Again, it will be provocative and will be seen as an escalation. We don’t do that,”
“The Philippines does not escalate tensions. Quite the opposite, the Philippines always tries to bring down the level of tension,” Marcos said. “All we are doing is resupplying our fishermen, protecting our territorial rights.”
Marcos, however, stressed that the Philippines would continue protecting its rights over the territory.
“We are going to continue to perform our mission. We will never be part of an escalation in the situation in the West Philippine Sea,” the President told reporters after an event in Pulilan, Bulacan.
“If we look at the evolution of the situation in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines has never been an agent of escalation of tensions,” he said.
On Dec. 4, China coast guard and naval ships fired water cannons and rammed Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels in the vicinity of Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc – a traditional Filipino fishing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, an EEZ extends some 200 nautical miles or about 370 km from a country’s coast.
On Nov. 30, a number of Chinese Navy helicopters hovered over Filipino fishermen in the WPS, prompting the PCG to deploy BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Cape Engaño.
The last time a Philippine warship faced off with Chinese vessels was in 2012 in Panatag Shoal, when it tried to stop Chinese poachers from escaping with their loot of giant clams, baby sharks and endangered marine resources.
A standoff followed when a Chinese navy ship intervened to help the poachers escape. The Chinese have since maintained a permanent presence in the shoal in violation of a “gentleman’s agreement” that both parties would leave the area to end the impasse.
Philippines welcomes Denmark’s support
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo welcomed yesterday Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s expression of solidarity with the Philippines and support for the 2016 Arbitral Award.
Manalo and his Danish counterpart met yesterday to discuss the further deepening of the longstanding partnership of the Philippines and Denmark.
The ministers also discussed pressing regional and international issues of mutual concern.
“Foreign Minister Rasmussen’s clear expression of solidarity with the Philippines and support for the 2016 Arbitral Award indicates Denmark’s principled stance on security and stability, and underscore Denmark as a like-minded champion of the rules-based international order,” Manalo said in a statement after the bilateral meeting with Rasmussen.
The ministers discussed their respective positions on the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine, and expressed concerns regarding the threats to peace and stability in these two geopolitical flashpoints.
The two sides identified and agreed on the ways forward and follow through actions to advance concrete cooperation, including in the areas of reskilling and upskilling Filipino seafarers; accelerated development and deployment of renewable energy sources and possible coast guard-to-coast guard engagement.
The Philippines and Denmark agreed to consider having a dedicated venue to discuss in detail specific cooperation activities to further promote closer trade and investment ties and other sectoral cooperation between the two countries.
Rasmussen visited the country from Dec. 9 to 10. It marks the first official visit of a Danish foreign minister to the Philippines after 25 years.
New maritime laws
The Philippines continues to align its domestic legal framework with the UNCLOS through the country’s two new maritime laws, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act.
On the 42nd anniversary of the adoption of UNCLOS, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday that over the past three decades, the Philippines has demonstrated its commitment to the Convention, reaffirming its universal and unified character as the comprehensive legal framework for law and order in the seas within which all activities in the oceans must be carried out as the constitution of the oceans.
“The country’s commitment has been manifested in concrete actions. From being one of the first to sign and ratify the Convention, the Philippines has continued to align its domestic legal framework with UNCLOS through the enactment of the Philippine Baselines act, and more recently the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act,” the DFA said in a statement.
The Philippines enacted the two new maritime laws that clearly define the extent and boundaries of the country’s maritime zones in accordance with the Constitution, the UNCLOS and the 2016 arbitral award, which reaffirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements and invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
The DFA said this readiness to engage fully within the parameters set by UNCLOS is a “testament to our unwavering belief in the peaceful means of settling disputes, and the rule of law and the rules-based international order.”
The Philippines adhered to UNCLOS’ dispute resolution mechanisms through the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration, underscoring that claims exceeding geographic and substantive limits of maritime entitlements under UNCLOS are without legal effect.
“We continue to call for compliance with the 2016 Arbitral Award and we appreciate the growing acknowledgement of the Award as an unassailable part of the corpus of international law,” the DFA added. — Pia Lee-Brago
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