Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio on Sunday said the Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippines and China on joint exploration of natural resources in the West Philippine Sea “has safeguards to protect our sovereignty.”
“I think we’re pretty safe. The government has included service contractors, so if we cooperate, if the cooperation with China on oil and gas activities will be through service contractors, we’re very safe,” said Carpio, the most senior Supreme Court associate justice and a nominee to the top post in the Judiciary.
A member of the Philippines’ arbitration team in the Permanent Court of Arbitration who has been vocal against China’s claims in the WPS, Carpio said a service contract for the joint exploration of gas and oil with China “could actually boost our rights over our exclusive economic zones in the WPS.”
The MoU was forged between the two countries during Xi’s state visit last week. It is entitled “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and Government of the People’s Republic of China.”
Among other things, the MOU acknowledged that “through positive dialogue and practical cooperation,” the Philippines and China “have made substantial progress and meaningful gains in exploring opportunities and means to cooperate with each other in maritime activities, which has made significant contributions to peace, stability, and development in the region.”
It called for the setting up of an inter-governmental joint steering committee and a working group which would be led by both countries’ ministries of foreign affairs and energy departments.
China identified its China National Offshore Oil Corp. as its representative for the working group, while the Philippines designated the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp.
The timeline to forge a mutually acceptable cooperation was 12 months.