Puno urges joint use of disputed areas in China Sea

Former Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ricardo "Dong" Puno Jr. is urging the government to pursue a Manila initiative on the joint use among claimant-states of disputed portions in the South China Sea to help ease tensions caused by continued poaching in its contested areas.

Puno said the government should sustain its diplomatic offensive pushing for the peaceful settlement of the South China Sea dispute before bilateral and multilateral forums to ensure that the area does not become a flashpoint in the region.

The joint use of the disputed portions will prevent such incidents as the recent arrest of Chinese fishers found encroaching on Scarborough Shoal, which Manila asserts as part of its territory, but which Beijing also claims. The shoal is only a few hundred kilometers away from Zambales, Puno added.

"We commend our diplomatic officials for what they have done so far in crafting a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea. We hope that this diplomatic offensive could be sustained so that a final version of the code would be given the stamp of approval soon by its claimant-states," Puno, a Laban senatorial candidate, said.