MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated that the Philippines must honor its Recto Bank exploration agreement with China to avoid “potential trouble” after being alerted that some companies were trying to meddle with the project.
In his public address late Monday, Duterte said an unnamed source from China warned that they will deploy soldiers if the Philippines were to deploy its own men in the area.
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“Alam mo pinaalala sa akin, di ko na sabihin kung sino from China — sabi niya ‘Hindi ba may usapan tayo that joint development yang sa Recto Bank? May bagong mga istorya na may papalit na,’” Duterte said.
(You know I received a reminder, I won’t mention my source from China—but I was told ‘Don’t we have a deal on that joint development on the Recto Bank project? Stories have surfaced that there’s already a replacement.)
The president said he plans to stand by the deal made with China until the end of his administration.
“Sundin lang nila, nilang ninyo, kung ano ‘yung pinag-usapan noon. Honor ‘yan e, it’s a matter of honor. We gave our consensual talks tapos may written agreement. ‘Pag iniba ‘yan, delikado,” Duterte said.
(Just follow the agreement made beforehand. It’s a matter of honor. We gave our consensual talks and a written agreement exists. If we change our stance, it’s dangerous.)
According to the Department of Energy, the Recto Bank basin has an estimated resource potential of 165 million barrels of oil and 3,486 billion cubic feet of gas.
The country’s sole provider of natural gas, the Malampaya project, is expected to be depleted by 2027. It powers around 20% of the country’s electricity needs.
“Yung mga kapitbahay natin, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, may mga oil sila. Tayo, meron but kokonti lang. Not enough even to serve three or four regions. Ang meron tayo gas, pero yan ang bantayan natin because there is potential trouble there regarding how we would handle it,” Duterte said.
(Our neighboring countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, have oil reserves. We also have those, but they are very few. It’s not enough even to serve three or four regions. What we have is gas, but that’s what we have to look out for because there is potential trouble there regarding how we would handle it.)
Recto Bank, internationally known as Reed Bank, is located in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines in 2018 inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in oil and gas development with China, as Beijing claims Recto Bank is part of its territory.
In 2016, the Hague Tribunal already rejected China’s claims over the disputed waters. The ruling also provided that the area is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.