THE government on Wednesday assured the public that the provisional fishing agreement that Manila wants to sign with Beijing will be in accordance with the Arbit ral Tribunal ruling rejecting China’s claims to the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.
“The provisional agreement will be anchored on the arbitral tribunal’s ruling that Bajo de Masinloc is a common fishing ground,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said.
Jose said there was no agreement yet because the Philippines intended to first discuss the matter with China.
“We have to broach the idea to China first. We have to discuss it first with the Chinese side,” Jose said.
He could not confirm yet if Duterte will have a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the matter during the Asean summit this week in Laos.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. has said Duterte will be having his first and official visit to China by the end of 2016.
During his department’s budget hearing at the House of Representatives, Yasay confirmed that the Philippines will be asking China to enter into a provisional agreement with Manila on how to jointly exploit the Philippine-owned Bajo de Masinloc.
“We are even thinking about the possibility in the future for the President to make the visit to China,” Yasay told the House panel led by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles.
“But we would hope that before this visit can be made, this provisional arrangement can be done with the end in view of beginning formal talks for the resolution of this dispute.”
Yasay has said the Philippines will not resort to any drastic action against China.
“We will not be engaging China in any shooting war in this particular instance. We will exercise maximum tolerance, restraint and sobriety for this purpose,” Yasay said.
On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s excessive nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea is illegal and violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
China has repeatedly rejected the ruling and continued to reclaim land and build structures in the disputed areas.
Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua has said that while China could not accept the UN ruling against its claims in the West Philippine Sea, Beijing is willing to move forward to enhance its ties with the Philippines.
“We cannot accept the arbitration award but we do look forward to talk to the Philippines bilaterally of the troubles we have,” Zhao told reporters.
“But right now, we need to change our focus from our differences to common interests so we can concentrate on cooperation that will benefit our two peoples.”
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam Taiwan have competing claims in the disputed areas in the South China Sea.