The importance of peace

Truth to tell is that the Philippines’ predicament in the South China Sea (SCS) vis-à-vis China, in the latter’s quest for hegemony in this part of the world, cannot be compared to any other sovereign states within the region where both islands and maritime claims are being disputed.

I am referring to Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan, that like the Philippines, are also challenging China’s use of a nine-dash line to define its claims to about 90 percent of the SCS or the equivalent of over 3.5 million-square-kilometers of sea. At best it is China’s assertive “historic” claim to sovereignty and control over all of the features, land, water, and seabed within the area bounded by the nine-dash line.

The nine-dash line that is continuous in U-shaped form extends 2,000km from the Chinese mainland to within a few hundred kilometers of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. It goes without saying then that the continuous line include all contested waters of said countries where the controversial islands like the Paracel, the Spratly, the James Shoal and the Scarborough Shoal are located.

While all claimant-nations in the vast expanse of the body of sea have been made suckers of China’s insatiable ambition of becoming a geopolitical and military power in this part of the world, what made it stand-out the most for the Philippines is that it is in its territorial waters that China decided to establish its bastion of military might with impunity.

Seeing the Philippines as the weakest link in the chain of sovereign nations in the region, China took advantage of our vulnerabilities and shortcomings as people and as a nation, violating even the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a law that embody customs, treaties, and international agreements by which governments maintain order, productivity, and peaceful relations on the sea.

Not only that. What is despairing and mentally agonizing is the fact that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, said China’s “territorial sovereignty and marine rights” in the seas would not be affected by the 2016 Hague ruling, which declared large areas of the sea to be neutral international waters or the exclusive economic zones of other countries. Yet, no Western power strongly contradicted it, let alone forcefully negated it in support for our sovereign rights.

Thus, it is under these circumstances that I find the statements of Senior Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, Vice President Leni  Robredo, Senator Francis Pangilinan and the rest of their ilk as rather unnerving, if not unreasonable, in criticizing President Duterte for allowing Chinese fishermen to continue exploiting the rich marine resources in our country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), saying, that it violates our Constitution.  Tell that to the Chinese!

Our country’s alliance with China, therefore, shall always be different and in no way comparable to the seemingly assertive stance shown by a claimant country, like Vietnam, when it comes to encroaches in its own EEZs. Our complex relationship with China in contending with its strong military presence in our own backyard makes us adapt a more amiable stand where the preservation of peace becomes of utmost importance.

That is all there is to it.

 

China and its ‘magic island-maker’ dredging vessel

 

The Tiankun dredger: China’s massive island-maker.

What am I talking about here and what is its significance?

Well, amid ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the controversial island-building frenzy China has been undertaking thereat, it has been reported lately that this economic giant of a nation continues to flex its maritime muscles, this time with the launching of an equally giant island-building vessel considered to be the most powerful vessel of its type in Asia.

Named the Tiankun, the vessel, more aptly described as “a magic island maker”, is the best of its kind in Asia, according to the ship’s designer, the Marine Design and Research Institute in Shanghai, and “can be used to conduct coastal/channel dredging and land reclamation operations even in bad weather at sea.”

The vessel, with a deck as long as five basketball courts, 140 meters, and a full displacement of 17,000 metric tons, can smash underwater rocks and then suck out sand, water, and mud, and transfer the substance up to 15 kilometers away. It can dredge up to 6,000 cubic meters (around two and half Olympic swimming pools) an hour from a depth of up to 35 meters.

The Tiankun is the same kind of vessel as its sister, the Tianjin, the largest currently operating dredger used to create several China-held militarized islets in the disputed seas including those close to our shores in the West Philippine Sea.

The fortification of these Chinese-made islands with military-grade airfields and weapons systems was referred to later as China’s “great wall of sand,” by U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris in 2015.

The Philippines government is said to be wary about the giant dredger especially that international security observers have expressed alarm that it might be deployed to the region again, this time to reclaim Scarborough Shoal.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that government is monitoring the dredger especially in the light of the statement issued by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, saying, “The President recognizes the principle of good faith in international relations. China has told the President they do not intend to reclaim Scarborough and we leave it at that.”

But who are we really to stop what China has already began in what it claims as their territory historically?

Good faith?

As the poor, aggrieved country we can only rely on our faith. The question, however, is: Will China give in to faith as it extends its influence in Asia and across the globe?

Panatag Shoal: from fishing ground to solid military ground

 

We all have heard of Panatag Shoal or most commonly known as Scarborough Shoal at the height of the South China Sea (SCS) territorial dispute when China unequivocally closed off the shoal from Filipino fishermen in 2012.

The shoal off the coast of Zambales lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and as such fishermen from this coastal region consider the shoal their fishing ground since time immemorial.

The shoal became even determinedly for the Filipinos when the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled the granting of 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 km) EEZ for island nations, which in reality exceeds the distance compared to where Panatag Shoal is which is only 119 nautical miles (approximately 220 km) west of Zambales.

With the ascendancy , however, of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency, and especially after he made a state visit to China’s President Xi Jinping in October 2016, the strained relationship between the two countries got better and the Filipino fishermen were allowed access to the rich fishing ground again.

We were hoping that this kind of access to the fishing ground was granted for good and for humanitarian reason especially that Duterte did not and has not in any way agreed or concurred with the international arbitral tribunal ruling favoring the Philippines in its maritime case against China.

Suffice to say that Duterte, like the leadership of China, ignored the arbitral ruling and, in fact, supported China’s continued island building and militarization of the area even as it was being built at our own backyard already.

Seemingly doing China a favor Duterte made it known that he wanted China’s patronage in return to jump-start the development of the country, thus, the pouring in of cash from China today.

But what is disheartening now, if not alarming, is that China has decided to convert Panatag Shoal, yes, the rich fishing ground belonging to the Philippines, into a solid military ground, just like the others, where it plans to build environmental monitoring stations, whatever that means.

If this is not a classic case of ‘giving them a hand and they will take an arm’ or ‘giving them an inch and they will take a mile’, I don’t know what is.

But what is worse is that the military build-up, for how else would one describe it, can be found at our turf!

I had been supportive of Duterte and even in his stand that if the most powerful country in the world was not able to stop China from militarizing the SCS, who are we to halt them?

I hope Duterte this time realizes that our generosity, if not our naivete, is being taken advantaged to the hilt by his more calculating, wily and farsighted Chinese counterpart.

What is disturbing and frightening is that when push comes to shove between two powerful contending nations having a stake in this part of the globe, the Philippines is right there included in the cross-hair of China’s enemy.

There is definitely no if and buts about it.

Philippines and Japan unveils contrasting sea might

Arrival of BRP Ramon Alcaraz

The Philippines is said to be modernizing its naval force with the acquisition of twin Hamilton-class cutters, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz. Both are decommissioned US Coast guard ships used in the 60s to enforce laws and treaties and search and rescue (SAR) on the high seas, including the U.S. exclusive economic zone.

Acquired under the US Excess Defense Article and a military assistance program, both decades old vessels are now part and parcel of the country’s sea defense that includes the Navy’s three World War II veteran warships, the BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11), the BRP Quezon (PS-70) and BRP Rizal (PS-74), which are even older than the Hamilton-class cutters.

The question people are asking now is whether or not the country will benefit from having these newly acquired types/class of warships against the might of the aggressive and bullying Chinese naval fleet that is not only claiming the whole of South China Sea, but are even entering already in our own territorial waters?

My answer is it will really depend on where and how you deploy them.

I think, more than anything, we are having them for show only and not for confrontation – like driving the intentionally directed errant Chinese military vessels away from the country’s exclusive economic zone.

I am sure we are going to be tested and taunted by the Chinese one of these days and they will probably love to see how far we can go. They know and we know that we cannot afford to lose what few, antique warships we have, thus our restraint will only show our weakness and our incapacity to assert what is ours, while the same will embolden them to continue sneering at us.

I will be flattered and happy if, with the use of any of these cutters, it can bravely escort the Filipino fishermen to the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off Zambales so they could continue fishing and earn their livelihood to support their families, even with the presence of Chinese ships around.

The ‘Izumo’

In contrast, amid increasing tensions with China also over some disputed islands in the East China Sea, Japan has unveiled recently a warship christened “Izumo” 

The Izumo is Japan’s largest warship since World War II, an 820-foot-long, 19,500-ton flattop capable of carrying 14 helicopters. It is classified as a helicopter destroyer, though its flattop design makes it look like an aircraft carrier.

Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense – particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions.

The mammoth vessel doesn’t have catapults for fixed wing aircraft – at least not yet – but certainly the helicopters the boat carries will help patrol what Japan takes to be its sovereign territory.

Some experts believe the new Japanese helicopter carrier could be used to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically.

Izumo’s flat top deck

That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best-equipped and best-trained naval forces in the Pacific, but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.

But, not anymore.

What difference it really makes when one is an economic giant and the other a pygmy!

Glaring differences, indeed, but more so, on the capability to protect a nation’s sovereignty – by land, air and sea.

Thank God for Benham Rise – Part II

 

Benham Rise is 2,000 to 5,000 meters deep

The first part was written on August 16, 2011 with the title ‘Philippines pin hopes on Benham Rise’.

After submitting and defending a claim before the UN commission in 2008 for the 13-million hectare area off the coast of Aurora in Luzon, by virtue of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea’s (UNCLOS) definition of the continental shelf as “the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea” up to 370 km (200 nautical miles) from the archipelagic baseline, a reply from the UN was received asking the government to answer some questions before formally approving our claim through a resolution intended to be passed in 2012.

Perhaps the defense was articulately argued and the answers to the questions, convincing, that it made Benham Rise the Philippines’ first successful validation of a territorial claim under UNCLOS.

Finally, Benham Rise is legally ours! Thank God for Benham Rise!

Fortunately, unlike Scarborough Shoal or the Panatag Shoal and other portions of the South China Sea, no other country claims the area that is almost a quarter bigger than the 10.5-million hectare Luzon.

UNCLOS, incidentally, is the same UN convention the Philippines is invoking in its ongoing dispute with China over Scarborough Shoal.

“We own Benham Rise now. This is for future Filipinos,” Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ramon Paje said.

Indeed it is. I may never see it explored and developed in my generation, but it feels good heading towards the sunset years of my life that the succeeding generations faces a brighter future.

According to experts Benham Rise keeps a large amount of heavy metals like manganese, whose accumulation into manganese nodules can help in the production of steel, among other things.

Considering the area is a seabed, which is known to contain gas hydrates, Benham Rise is also potentially a rich source of natural gas, according to them.

What I can only hope and pray is that, from here on, we shall continue having leaders and public servants who has the interest of the nation and the welfare of the people over and above their own hidden personal and political agendas.

 

45th ASEAN meeting in Phnom Penh ended sans joint communiqué

45th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting chaired by Cambodia

For the first time in its 45-year history, the annual meeting of the ASEAN foreign ministers last week in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh has failed to issue its customary joint statement.

The communiqué is normally a summation of the achieved agreements during the past working year, and an outline of matters that still need to be tackled.

From this particular meeting, member nations, specifically the Philippines, was expecting that a code of conduct be stated in resolving territorial disputes, in reference to the recent standoff between the Philippines and China in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, also called Bajo de Masinloc, in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) claimed by both countries.

The Philippines took strong exception to the statement of Cambodian Prime Minister Hor Namhong, who announced that “this will be the first time that the ASEAN is not able to issue the Joint Communiqué due to bilateral conflict between some ASEAN member-states and a neighboring country.”

Phl Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario

In a statement, Foreign Affairs  Secretary Albert del Rosario  blamed Cambodia for the non-issuance of the joint communiqué, for “consistently  opposing any mention of the Scarborough Shoal  at all” and for announcing that a joint communiqué “cannot be issued.”

Cambodia is a staunch ally of China, which had earlier warned ASEAN countries not to mention  anything about the contentious  issue on the South China Sea during security meetings in Phnom Penh. The warning was  a rebuff of a US recommendation urging  ASEAN members to formulate a legally-binding Code of Conduct.

The long-stalled code of conduct, strongly supported by the United States, is seen as a way of reducing the chances of a spat over fishing, shipping rights or oil and gas exploration tipping into an armed conflict.

Analysts say Cambodia may have played Beijing’s hand in refusing to agree on the Philippines and Vietnam’s demands to include the standoff at the Scarborough Shoal in the final draft of the joint communiqué.

Del Rosario also laid the blame on China, whom he accused as trying to bully the country.

“If Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction can be denigrated by a powerful country through pressure, intimidation, the threat of use of force and economic pressure, the international community should be concerned about the behavior of this member-state, which has negative implications to the overall peace and stability and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” del Rosario lamented.

The US has said it does not take sides on the issue of territorial claims, but that it has an     “interest on freedom of navigation, the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea.”

What is regrettable about this development is that even Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was reported to be saying in an interview that: “This is strange territory for me. It’s very, very disappointing that at this 11th hour, ASEAN is not able to rally around a certain common language on the South China Sea.  We’ve gone through so many problems in the past, but we’ve never failed to speak as one.”

The question now is: Because the ASEAN bloc is being rendered impotent, by China’s looming shadow, to speak as one voice, are we seeing then the beginning of the end of this organization whose aim is to accelerate economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully?

China’s despotic incursions in other country’s territory

Not being done yet bullying the Philippines and other sovereign countries in the region over territorial dispute in the South China Seas, China has shifted its sights and now is causing an uproar in Japan by telling its government to respect Beijing’s “indisputable sovereignty” over islands claimed by both countries in the East China Sea.

The islands referred to here are islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

Like the contested Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal in the South China Seas, the Senkaku or Diaoyu also lies in rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain valuable mineral reserves.

Tokyo recognizes a private Japanese family as owner of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, which the government intended to purchase, but claimed otherwise by China, thus, the intrusion into Japanese territorial waters by Chinese patrol vessels.

It has been reported that the owner of the islands is demanding that either the Japanese government or the Tokyo government, which is also vying to buy the islets, construct a naval base to secure Japan’s sovereignty over them.

It will be remembered that the Senkakus were controlled by the US after World War II, but were returned to Japan together with Okinawa. Chinese claims over the islands emerged in the late 1960s, about the time that a UN survey revealed the existence of a big hydrocarbon deposit beneath them.

Again, as in the Spratly and Scarborough dispute, the Chinese government issued a statement, saying, that “the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets have always been China’s territory since ancient times.”

Unlike the small and poor nation claimants in the South China Seas that is being bullied with impunity by China, the latter has to think twice its actions towards Japan since it has been confirmed by the State Department that the Senkakus, which lies between Okinawa and Taiwan, “fall within the scope of Article 5 of the 1960 US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Co-operation and Security”.

But, the most important question now is: What can you do to a UN member who refuses to recognize international agreements such as the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which were crafted to settle disputes?

It is even useless to bring the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which normally could settle questions of boundaries and questions of sovereignty, because China has said, time and again, that it would not agree to the jurisdiction of ICJ.

If China, in this regard, is dishonoring the UN charter and its preamble, how could an organization of lesser eminence, the 10 members of Southeast Asian regional body ASEAN, be able to stop China from making despotic incursions on other country’s territory?

It is for a reason, therefore, that Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario sounded desperate when he denounced Chinese “duplicity” and “intimidation” in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“If Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction can be denigrated by a powerful country through pressure, duplicity, intimidation and the threat of the use of force, the international community should be concerned about the behavior,” Del Rosario said recently in the annual ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

Scarborough Shoal and Tiangong-1 space laboratory

 

The Scarborough Shoal and the Tiangong-1 space laboratory are two extreme topics that are worthy of our attention – we Filipinos.

Worthy of our attention because it is all about China – the same giant nation laying total ownership of the whole of South China Seas, including the sovereignty dispute the Philippines is having with them on the Scarborough Shoal, which is much, much nearer to the country, being within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

It is also showing now how insignificant we are compared to their global status, not only militarily and economically, but technologically as well, after the recent success of China’s ambitious space mission where their Shenzhou-9 spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space laboratory. The crew includes 33-year-old Liu Yang, an air force pilot and China’s first female astronaut.

This achievement makes China the third country to complete a manned space docking, following the United States and Russia.

The Tiangong-1, which was launched last year, and which is said to be of the size of a bus, is due to be replaced by a permanent space station around 2020. That station is to weigh about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA’s Skylab of the 1970s and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station.

The reason why I am bringing these two extreme topics to our attention is because, while the Chinese are finding success in their space exploitation, the more that they will strive to be successful in their exploitation of the seas, which includes their claim of the whole of South China Seas, to the prejudice of our claims to some of the islands that we feel rightfully ours because of its proximity.

Clearly, it is lunacy to go into an armed conflict with China.

But, small and weak as we are, the Philippine government should be brave and determined enough to seek help from the international community in our battle to win the territorial dispute with China over some areas in the South China Seas or the West Philippine Seas, which we see belonging to the country by virtue of the UNCLOS.

 

Churches should leave sovereignty problem to the state

 

Catholic Bishop Iniguez, co-chair of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum

The Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), an interdenominational organization of churches in the Philippines, that includes the Catholic Church, has recently issued a statement accusing the government of trying to increase US military presence in the country.

A notable signatory to the statement originating from the left-leaning organization is said to be Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, the public affairs chief of the country’s influential Catholic bishops, who count about 80 per cent of Filipinos as followers.

No matter the disclaimer of Roy Lagarde, a media officer of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), that Iniguez signed the document in a personal capacity and that the CBCP did not endorse his views, still it leaves people’s eyebrows raised. It is not CBCP if it does not support the advocacy of a ranking member prelate.

The statement came in the wake of President Benigno Aquino’s recent visit to the US where he met US President Barack Obama to seek greater US help to boost the country’s defenses amid a two-month long standoff between Philippine and Chinese troops over the Scarborough Shoal.

“The Scarborough conflict is only being made an excuse in order for the US to deploy their forces in the Asia-Pacific to protect its economic interest in the region and to counteract its economic rival China’s expansionism,” the communiqué said.

How could the EBF issue such a bulletin when the nation, and the whole world for that matter, know that China has shown no sign of backing down on its reaffirmation, assertiveness and claim of its sovereignty over the disputed outcrop in the South China Sea, more known to us as Panatag shoal.

It is for this reason that the standoff between Philippine and Chinese troops continue, and it is for this reason that protests are being held against China.

The standoff has also highlighted how poorly-equipped the Philippines is, to handle such external challenges.

While we understand that this dispute can only be resolved through diplomatic means, still the government opted to seek military assistance from the US and from any nation sympathetic to our problem and willing to help us just so we will not be bullied by this behemoth economic and military power, which has not minced words in claiming sovereignty over all its archipelagos and islands in the South China Seas.

To protest and spew rhetoric against China is the only way we, Filipinos, can show our patriotism.

What kind of nationalism or protest have the churches shown? What has the Catholic hierarchy done in terms of declaring our sole right and sovereignty over the contested areas in the South China Seas, or on the Scarborough shoal, for that matter? Theirs could be a meaningful voice, but where is it?

Does China’s expansionism in this region sits well with the EBF members?

To say, therefore, that the state is using the disputed area as an excuse for increasing US troop numbers in the country is illogical, at best, and idiotic, at worst.

If for no other reason, we call upon the EBF, in general, and the Catholic Church, in particular, to refrain from making pronouncement on matters relating to state functions so it cannot be said that they are meddling in the sovereignty problem that the government of President Aquino alone has the power to resolve.

 

China shuns diplomatic solution on shoal dispute

Enclosed the red line are the disputed areas in the South China Sea

How else would one interpret the latest Chinese declaration over the highly disputed Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Shoal or what Beijing calls Huangyan Island, when this economic giant and military bully ignores the sovereign rights of a small, struggling, nation and claims the whole South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) and what is underneath it as its territory by virtue of historical grounds and that it won’t never go to court to settle the matter?

A declaration of hostilities, sort of, isn’t it?

Is this the way to settle territorial disputes in the 21^st century by intimidation, provocation and military muscle flexing instead of using diplomatic approach as the appropriate and rational way of settling issues that has to do with sovereign rights?

The court referred to here is the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany, where the country feels would be the real arbiter for such a contentious issue.

The Philippines insists that the shoal belongs to the country simply because of its extreme proximity to Zambales, which is 220 km only, compared to 840 km from the nearest coast of China in Hainan province.

Yet, China wants that the Philippines should “fully respect China’s sovereignty” and with a threatening tone even said that the Philippine government must “commit to the consensus we reached on settling the incident through friendly diplomatic consultations, and not to complicate or aggravate this incident so that peace and stability in that area can be reached.”

Is this saying that China is giving the Philippines an ultimatum?

If China has historical proof to show that the contested shoal is part of their territory, then why can’t they agree to show it to the whole world or bring it to the ITLOS? Why swiftly reject the proposal of the Philippine government that the dispute be resolved by the UN-backed ITLOS?

On the other hand, what the Philippines will bring to the ITLOS, with or without Chinese representatives, are old maps of the ‘Archipelago Filipino’ dating back to Spanish colonial times showing that “Bajo Scarburo,” the shoal now called Panatag by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), is a constituent part of Sambalez (now Zambales province).

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, who has a collection of ancient maps of the country said that the maps would easily disprove the territorial claim of China to the shoal and its surrounding waters, which in the first place do not show any historical or legal grounds under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (Unclos).

“It’s clear that Scarborough Shoal is part of our cartography during the Spanish colonial times,” he said. “We have maps (reproduced) from the original, which was made in 1734. During that time, Scarborough is already part of the Philippines.”

An 1875 map was the “product of the most comprehensive mapping and charting work in the Philippines lasting more than 20 years (1849-1870).”

Angara said the original maps were deposited at Spain’s Museo Naval de Madrid.

The question now is: If this testament to our ownership of the shoal is not honored by China, what will stop them from disembarking on our territory and stripping us of our dignity?

Let us be pragmatic about it. We need help. We can’t stand on our own. We need the support of the world community before this part of the world becomes a flashpoint.