‘Diplomacy not softening Phl claim’

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang believes diplomacy does not soften the Philippine claim to areas in the West Philippine Sea as government is committed to protect the country’s territory.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippines is protesting every incursion and had gone to the United Nations for arbitration on the maritime dispute with China.

“We have deliberately chosen not to respond to provocative statements or actions, given that we have already chosen the path of a peaceful resolution and of exhausting diplomatic means to do so,” she said.

Valte said the Philippines could not just invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States when intrusions are made into Philippine waters.

“Even under the Mutual Defense Treaty there are certain conditions... Again, allow me to point out that the existence of the Mutual Defense Treaty is also – no pun intended – not mutually exclusive with our efforts to achieve a minimum credible defense posture,” she said.

Valte said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had been looking for alternative fishing grounds for Filipino fishermen amid Chinese incursions.

“In fact, now the BFAR is working on providing additional… There’s a particular area that the BFAR has opened as an alternative fishing ground for our fishermen, and there are several fishing vessels who have already signified their interest to fish in that particular alternative area,” she said.

The BFAR is coming up with a registry of small fisherfolk so they can be identified to make it easier to reach out to them for assistance for their livelihood, she added.

Speaking over state-run dzRB radio, BFAR director Asis Perez said  Benham Rise, also known as Benham Plateau located some 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela, was being eyed as an alternative fishing area, being rich in marine resources like tuna.

Dorado or mahi-mahi fish found in the area could be a source of livelihood for fisherfolk, he added.

Despite the plateau’s proximity to the Philippines, the government only filed a claim in 2008 over Benham Rise before the United Nations Commission on the limits of the continental shelf.

The claim was part of the Philippine petition to expand its archipelagic baselines and exclusive economic zone through Republic Act 9522, the Archipelagic Baselines Law.

The BFAR is planning to explore Benham Rise and build port facilities there.

Government forces guarding Benham Rise do not need to be strengthened because the territory had already been awarded to the Philippines under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Chinese still in Ayungin

Filipino troops deployed in the Spratlys have reported that the two Chinese surveillance ships have not left Ayungin Shoal as of Monday night.

Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman for West Philippine Sea issues, said the number of Chinese vessels in the area remains the same.

Several Chinese ships, including two frigates, took position near Ayungin Shoal three weeks ago.

China now has full control of Panatag Shoal in Zambales after Philippine Navy ships were withdrawn last year.

China is laying claim to almost the entire South China Sea.

The Philippines has asked China to pull out from Ayungin Shoal, an integral part of the country’s territorial domain.

Located halfway from Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys and Palawan, Ayungin Shoal is within the country’s exclusive economic zone. – With Jaime Laude, Pia Lee-Brago, Michelle Zoleta