(Eagle News) — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, Aug. 1, lashed out at the Department of Foreign Affairs after it made the suggestion for the Philippines to conduct a joint exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement, Hontiveros said the suggested 60-40 joint exploration was “preposterous and treacherous,” and “reverses our historic victory at The Hague and signs away Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.”
According to Hontiveros, the Permanent Court of Arbitration had already said that the Philippines has “sovereign rights to access offshore oil and gas fields, including the Reed Bank, within our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. ”
“We don’t share ownership of the West Philippine Sea with China,” Hontiveros said.
“Is this the result of the DFA’s so-called 50-100 diplomatic actions against China? Is this what President Duterte calls an independent foreign policy?” Hontiveros asked, calling for an audit of the Philippines’ foreign policy “to determine if the government’s foreign policy thrust and direction are still compatible with our sovereignty and security interests, and whether or not they are still in compliance with our international obligations, particularly the arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea.”
“The people want a DFA that is courageous in asserting our historic victory at The Hague, not a foreign affairs office that the public can’t distinguish anymore from the Chinese embassy,” she said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the joint exploration was his “starting proposition,” noting that the Chinese were also open to the idea.