EDITORIAL - Neighbors

Due to bad weather, the latest storm between the Philippines and China has a chance of blowing over. Over the weekend, as typhoon “Butchoy” spawned heavy rains, President Aquino ordered the pullout of two government vessels from Panatag Shoal, which lies just 123 miles west of Subic Bay and 137 miles east of Palauig in Zambales.

The Department of Foreign Affairs also announced that Chinese fishing boats, escorted by their government vessels, also left the shoal. Yesterday Malacañang confirmed the DFA’s story, although the Chinese embassy refused to describe it as a withdrawal. The embassy also reiterated Beijing’s territorial claim over the shoal, and declared that they would “continue to maintain administration and vigilance” over the area.

The territorial dispute isn’t going to be resolved overnight. Can other aspects of bilateral ties be pursued in the meantime? Only last year, from late August to early September, President Aquino had embarked on his first state visit, as a guest of Beijing. Aquino, like many Filipinos, has ancestors in southern China, and the visit reaffirmed the two countries’ historic ties.

It would be a shame if such ties would be ruined over a cluster of rocks and coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea. Much of the goodwill generated by Aquino’s state visit was lost after Philippine maritime authorities apprehended eight Chinese fishing vessels in Panatag with a large haul of baby sharks – prized by the Chinese for their fins – as well as endangered giant clams and corals. Apart from poaching all the way to Palau, the Chinese are among the world’s biggest consumers of endangered marine species, including giant sea turtles. They also continue to harvest corals, destroying already heavily depleted reefs.

Aquino has pointed out that Philippine vessels stay out of the territorial waters of its neighbors, as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both countries are signatories, and neighbors should show the same respect toward the Philippines. Stormy weather has given the two countries an opportunity to mend frayed ties. That opportunity must not be squandered.