Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Philippines Defense Forces Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Locked Topic
The Kalayaan, Panatag & other disputed islands; Future conflict zones?
Topic Started: Feb 2 2005, 08:00 PM (156,041 Views)
AVBsupersonic
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  *  * ]
I think for now.. the US strategic plans in WPA is ok and I do see now and agree with Sir S. that we don't need the US Bases for now and put as in a hot spot, meaning-

"Kapag walang US Base dito sa atin mas ok sa kanila dahil tayo ang pinakamalaking parte ng stratehiya nila sa WPA, dito sila magmula sa atin kapag may nakaabang sa kanila sa ibang lugar kung sakali man na magkaroon ng kaguluhan... Ang magagandang pagkakaayos ng mga lugar mga tulay at highway, pati yung papunta kayla Sen. Dick ay idinesenyo na mas matibay para sa pag-antabay sa mga kasalukuyang pangyayari" - Tagalog para anti- chekwa hak

They will be forced to help us if something happens to our Soldiers and their Civilian Families particularly the Kalayaan Municipality in PAG-ASA Island, this is covered by MDT unfortunately for other claimants, especially CHINA.

The US knows this and this was what Former Pres. Marcos had in mind when he declared it to be part of Palawan, so big point for FM.... :thumb:

In short, bringing the US Bases back here would mean Chinese Ballistic Missiles could be pointed at us... :dunno: Maybe they already have Scuds in Subi Reef that makes our Mainland within striking distance... For me Subi and Woody in Paracel are the ones to watch out for.....

In a way as well for the US to have their bases back here will also be good for us, for as long as they will provide some sort of Missile Shield for them and our Country. Our Country should really invest on Anti Missile Defences, Anti Ship and Anti Air Tanks. We will be dealing more problems in the Air than in the Sea, the USN and PN assets will take care of the hostile ships in case of any aggression to us.... If we'll only have like (2) Squadrons of MRFs this won't be enough to secure the mainland and to give umbrella for our PN ships, so our Govt. AFP/DND should invest more on AAMs and Anti Missile Defences. For READINESS!

The Ideal no. of MRFs should be (16) Main Air defence Wing Squadron MRFs + (8) Modern 4.5 Gen MRFs as Special Elite Main Squadron to protect the Mainland. Over all total of (24) MRFs for starters...
"Some are just lucky that they're not under oath and are not classified!"- Blue badge
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
spearhead
Member Avatar
DoctorNO, Your Neutral Observer.
[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
No photo
China's sea aims: Naval might, oil
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star) Updated June 24, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (8) View comments

Asian commentators pound on it. China, adapting Sun Tzu’s line of turning impossibility to possibility, is trying to wring something from nothing in Southeast Asian seas. Unfolding in 2009 its “nine-dash line” claim over most of the waters, it turned undisputed into disputed areas. The 5,600-square-kilometer Recto Bank on the Philippine continental shelf, 80 miles off Palawan mainland, suddenly fell under China. This is despite Hainan, its island “nearest” the undersea elevation, being 570 miles distant.

The Philippines has long discovered oil and gas in and east of Recto. Asserting a belated claim, China has deployed naval patrols there. Six times since March its gunboats have harassed Filipino exploration and fishing vessels. When it used to have nothing in Recto, China now wants the world to believe it possesses something.

In the Kalayaan Isles 100 miles from Recto, still within Philippine but beyond China’s 200-mile exclusive economic zones, the latter also is flexing military muscle. This particularly rankles Vietnam, which holds some Spratly islets closer to its shores. China professes to want to avoid tensions via joint explorations with any interested ASEAN state. Twenty-seven times in addressing the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore last June 3-5, Chinese defense chief Liang Guanglie mentioned the word “peace”. The following week Chinese warships challenged a Vietnamese survey craft, the second such incident since late May. Other patrols threatened five fishing boats. Beijing instantly blamed Vietnam for the incidents, insisting that the isles are China’s: something from nothing. The next day China’s envoy to Manila, the foreign ministry’s ex-spokesman, warned Spratlys claimants to not search for oil without its consent. Impliedly, Recto Bank, which the Philippines is mining, is part of the Spratlys: more something from nothing.

* * *

Employing Sun Tzu as well, the Philippines and Vietnam strive to “know the enemy.”

Vietnam-Net Bridge, a semi-government news website, recently analyzed China’s military intentions in Southeast Asian waters. Basically it culled from a June 8 editorial of its counterpart China Daily. Allegedly China aims to become a sea power to match its huge landmass. It needs a strong navy to protect a long coastline and wide EEZ. Likewise, China is projecting influence over the four archipelagos in the regional waters in order to link to the great Pacific. In struggling to rise from a mainland to a sea superpower, China is thus testing how far it can go. It has arrogated as part of its South Sea what Vietnam calls the East Sea and Philippines the West Sea. Incidentally, China has a naval base in Hainan island-province where it reportedly is building four submarines.

In the wake of the survey ship grazing, Vietnam held live-fire war exercises. The Philippines deemed its response louder than military. It reported to the United Nations and ASEAN allies the Chinese incursions in the Recto Bank. America, Australia and six of the nine other ASEAN members consequently told China to respect international law, chiefly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

* * *

China is also very thirsty for oil. And the Southeast Asian seabed contains it. Vietnam’s seismic surveys of its continental shelf close to the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos continue to test positive. The Philippines extracts oil from Matinloc and Linapacan, and gas from Malampaya, all adjacent to the Recto Bank’s Sampaguita Field.

As for China, Filipino geologists helped it discover and extract oil starting in 1998 in Penglai, Bohai Bay, on its southern coast. In November 2010, still aided by Filipino scientists, China hit pay dirt 1.2 kilometers down Hainan’s seafloor, its first deepwater find. There’s more beyond them than boundary waters.

The US-based Institute for Analysis of Global Security, which links energy and security concerns, has been tracking China’s oil appetite. A June 17 update, “Fueling the Dragon: China’s Race into the Oil Market,” provides statistics (http://www.iags.org/china.htm).

Author Gal Luft researched that China, with a population of 1.3 billion, is today the second biggest oil consumer, next only to the US. Industrializing at breakneck speed, China’s oil consumption grows 7.5 percent a year, seven times faster than America’s. Its energy need would expand 150 percent by 2020. That’s why it has acquired interests in oil fields in Canada, Venezuela, Russia, Kazakhstan, Sudan, West Africa, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

That also explains China’s confrontations in the Southeast Asian seas with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. Also with Japan in the northern waters.

* * *

The Quezon City court has refused to restrain state-owned APO Production Unit from printing government security forms. It found baseless the claim of an employee, posing as a concerned outsider, that the agency would lose money from operations. It turns out that APO has been running on its own since birth in 1974, with no appropriations from Congress. It competes with private printers for government jobs, though.

* * *

Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., DWIZ, (882-AM).

* * *


http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...bCategoryId=64
__________________
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
spearhead
Member Avatar
DoctorNO, Your Neutral Observer.
[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Spratly’s and beyond: Is it all a fishy communist plot?

Posted on 14 June 2011 by mikeinmanila

Considering the current situation – few outlets in the Philippines is so far -reporting for example on issues faced by fellow ASEAN member Vietnam which is also having daily clashes with increased Chinese patrol fleets even just off its coast and problems between its fishermen with the PRC maritime fleets, similar reports have surfaced out of Indonesia on West Papua: Dispute on over-fishing by Chinese company, in waters adjacent to Australia.

Just as under reported are in the meanwhile, while the PRC is working more closely with Taiwan on trade and law enforcement.

Yet, Taipei’s, fishermen are also reporting problems. China’s patrols seem to chasing down its rouge provinces fishing fleets as well. The problem lies also in fairness to the PRC on its vast bureaucracy, old hardliners still maintain tight control over one key area in the free-market-dengism society of modern communist China.

It’s food supply is largely controled in rural China and at sea by old schooled central planning quota driven — it is some say the last bastion of some old guard hard-liners who while less in control over China’s economy and directions keep many old politics that have been a constant problem for a rapidly changing Chinese leadership.

One key area missed is the obvious – the PLAN (People’s liberation army naval forces) move in to an area – chase away coast guards and are followed by convoy of fishing vessels – while in the long term the undersea resources of Oil and Natural gas seem to be the goal of China’s focus on controlling the South China Sea fisheries is cause for concern for most of ASEAN.

US – Philippine Carat 2011 in Palawan: ‘Not related to current tension’ – Philippine Navy

Now enter the US Navy a long planned exercise off the coast of Palawan near the disputed region. News reports say, that even amidst “rising tension” over the disputed reefs and Islands, the naval forces of the United States and the Philippines will be holding almost two weeks of military war games off Palawan late this month.



Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - Sailors man the rails aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), while passing the battleship USS Missouri in her homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship is named in honor of Rear Adm. Gordon Paie'a Chung-Hoon, who was born and raised in Hawaii and awarded the Navy Cross and Silver Star for gallantry as Commanding Officer of USS Sigsbee during the Battle of Okinawa. Chung-Hoon was also assigned to USS Arizona during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Robert C. Foster Jr. (RELEASED)

Philippine Navy spokesman, Philippines Marines Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay, in a press statement reiterated that, “The joint military exercises are not a show of force with the country’s former commonwealth partner and ally, although the site of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) for this year is near the disputed parts of the island group in dispute.



“This is not related to that issue, this has been planned long before,” said Tonsay. The controversy cropped anew after the Philippine Government and Vietnam both filed formal protests over “bullying and documented cases including firing on fishing vessels, air craft overflights into Philippine territory and what vietnam claimed were sabotage attacks on survey vessels,” in an area over a thousand kilometers from mainland China.

“The objective is interoperability, our ability to operate with the US and vice versa and exchange of doctrinal and tactical best practices,” said Tonsay.the US navy’s—USNS Safeguard, a auxiliary rescue and salvage vessels, and two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, (DDG83) USS Howard, which helped scores during a typhoon in Panay province in 2008 and DDG93 USS Chung Hoon— in 2010, the ship assissted the Philippine Navy in the Sulu Sea in operations against JI and Abu Sayyaf, they will be joined by four Philippine Navy ships.

The choice of Chung Hoon, is also less tense for China, since the ship, DDG93, served as host ship to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Luda class destroyer Qingdao during Qingdao’s visit to Pearl Harbor.[4] The two ships conducted communications and mobility exercises on September 10, 2006. According to Xinhua News Agency, it was the first such exercise by USN and PLAN ships.

Australia closely monitoring ‘China threat’ to it’s Palawan oil and gas projects:

As Australian oil and gas -exploration agreements off Palawan Island in the Philippines begin for new fields to be developed. Canberra is slowly focusing in on the ‘China threat’ to the projects – which while at present may be but a sidebar story to most – the Australians privately are concerned over Chinese fishing fleets pushing further south.

Currently; some conflict issues have been reported with fishing techniques and ‘sweep fishing’ which uses nets that almost act as strainers – taking entire reef and shoal populations in one sweep. “Having fished out their own waters, countries like China are now sending their industrial fishing fleets to the Pacific to exploit the region’s stocks.” Greenpeace in Australia warns, “Since industrial fishing began in the 1950s, global fish stocks have been in decline.” adding that some fishing fleets from China, “Armed with sophisticated technologies, are catching fish beyond nature’s ability to replenish the seas.”

The problem is dramatic that in some areas, “90% of the oceans’ large predatory fish, such as tuna, swordfish, marlin and sharks, have been taken from our oceans.” The Australian government is now enforcing stricter controls and sustainable fishers. Forcing large industrial fishing fleets to restock, breeding programs for Tuna and Marlin as well as other marine efforts creating sustainable brands consumers can identify as those who use sustainable methods.

Off Palawan, the reports I am getting is that the fishing fleets of the PRC, Taiwan, and others are engaged in mass catching… sweeping entire tuna and other fish schools en-mass. Increasingly making it difficult for other nations fleets to compete. Called unfair fishing by Greenpeace – beyond yet unconfirmed by production levels for Oil and Gas in new exploration efforts. The loss of fish population is something that worries many across the region.

The reefs off Palawan for example provide up to 40% of sea catch of metro manila in the Philippines – Vietnam also taps these marine resources heavily. Clashes are a likely event between navies. China has already in well documented cases fired on Philippine fishing boats. It is sending its Migs and Sokoi fighters out on longer range patrols meaning they likely are now based in the Parcel Islands since Hainan Island is too far or have improved inflight refueling capabilities enough that they can overfly the Philippines and reach as far south as Malaysia.

Trawler sweeping and chemical fishing could lead to marine disaster:

This Chinese fishing methods are highly destructive to reefs and shalows and has caused conflict with Japan and Korea in the past – local environmentalists warn – the damage done is sweeping – large trawler fleets litterly taking all forms of marine life that cant get out of their nets. Which per Philippine fishermen and those from Vietnam seem to be almost a military like operation with Naval vessels and patrol craft cleaning the seas of any enforcement teams and then shepherding the fishing fleets which also are auxiliary vessels of maritime police of China.

Overfishing this way , warn ocean scientists often kills off the reefs themselves. Worse yet is at times they use cyanide – by the ton to stun the fish schools for reef fish. China fishing fleets cant do this in the pacific anymore – the US Navy has effectively banned all fishing east of the Marianas islands to protect all reefs from Guam to Hawaii and almost up to
the US west coast.

Remember that these areas have since the end of world war II been effectively under the US flag. Most think of Guam and Hawaii as US but – islands nations like the FSM and CNMI as well as Palau are mostly populated by dual nationals most holders of US citizenship.

If China’s fishing fleets hold course it will not be long before the problems facing Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and, Taiwanese fisherman will be faced by American ones. Most security experts note that by that time China’s economy will have matched the US and its military be at par or more advanced.

What environmentalists warn is once China’s fleets are done in areas in dispute they may enter coastal areas and reefs clearly within economic zones and territorial waters of countries in ASEAN. Beyond this there is little done by government in the PRC to make the vast fisheries sustainable. Japan for example is following Australia’s lead – it’s actions have restored some areas – while still at odds over Whale fishing – most agree Japan has changed course in overall fishing patterns. Someday – as China’s fishing fleets and navy grow more influential the pacific islands and even Australia could be down the road.

While China’s fishing cooperatives remain some of the last ventures fully controlled by the communist party and its centralized planners who are driven to deliver higher and higher levels of catch an area that nearly yearly led to famine and abuse and the eventual demise of all other states in the world that adopted non-free market practices.

China’s food and fisheries are largely however — run by typical old school central planners – to feed a massively growing population. Seemingly ignoring consequences that the methods are killing off the very resource that allows fish to breed and survive. It is like a perhaps a footnote for most – who can’t remember how many children around the world were told for decades to eat all their food and be thankful – remember the starving kids in Communist Red China.

Now, while many are seeing red over issues in the spratly’s and other areas – perhaps the extent of the problem is not yet seen – it’s more than potential oil or gas – the fishy communist plot… is there – renewed anew even as the world forgets to raise another net to central planning and programs in order to serve up all fish in the sea.

Now, one knows why little or next to nothing is being said by those of the same mindset or political viewpoint in some countries because deep down inside they’d rather be dead – than expose anything red!
--
http://www.mikeinmanila.com/2011/06/...ommunist-plot/
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
spearhead
Member Avatar
DoctorNO, Your Neutral Observer.
[ *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Philippines told: You’re not alone
US also vows to help cool Spratlys row


Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:51 am | Sunday, June 26th, 2011

The United States has committed to boost the Philippines’ intelligence capabilities amid increased tensions with China over disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday.

US National Director for Intelligence (NDI) James Clapper made the commitment at a meeting with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario in Washington on Friday, the DFA said.

Del Rosario also met on Friday with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates who “expressed readiness to strengthen the Philippines’ capability in securing its maritime territory,” the DFA said.

It also quoted Michelle Fluornoy, the US defense undersecretary for policy, as saying: “We should not allow this perception that you are alone and we’re not behind you.”

“[Clapper] pledged to enhance the NDI’s intelligence sharing with the Philippines to heighten the latter’s maritime situational awareness and surveillance in the West Philippine Sea,” the DFA said in a statement.

Clapper was quoted as saying that “we’ll do whatever we can to help” as he expressed concern over recent events in the South China Sea.

The “West Philippine Sea” is the term that the Philippine government now uses for the “South China Sea” to further stress its claim to territories in the region.

The assurance came after the US said it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the Philippine military at a joint press conference in Washington, DC, on Thursday with Del Rosario and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Del Rosario has been meeting in the past week with US state, defense and intelligence officials to seek US help for the Philippines’ poorly equipped military.

The Philippines is seeking to modernize its military following a series of incidents with China in the waters around the Spratly Islands, believed to sit on vast mineral resources.
"Men of War must learn the art of numbers or he will not know how to array his troops." - Plato

Posted ImagePosted ImagePosted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
atreidesx69
Trainee
[ *  * ]
The Pacific is the new battleground for contending spheres of influence, namely the PRC on one side and the other, the US and other Western nations. The PRC is spending massive amounts of money to build up their military. But the fact remains that they still remain far behind the US military capabilities. That's the reason why the US should stand up to the PRC now, while they still have the edge both militarily and economically. And we should stand up to China not only to protect our rights, but also to provide an excuse for the US to bring down the PRC a peg or two.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
flipzi
Member Avatar
R-A-T-S

the concern on the destructive over-fishing and the illegal method is indeed a big concern for us.

the Chinese fishermen have been involved in this activities.

the Coast Guard and Navy should address this.

more ships (smaller patrol boats, built in Cebu) should also be considered to secure our waters from this greedy nation.
Posted Image

" Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them! - Art. II Sec 1, Philippine Constitution "


" People don't care what we know until they know we care. "


getflipzi@yahoo.com
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
flipzi
Member Avatar
R-A-T-S

Posted Image

If you will analyze carefully, it is not the sea itself that China wants to conquer but the whole islands indeed.

And its using its military might to bully the small nations like the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Look at how it avoided Vietnam by leaving at least 100 nautical miles while the red dotted line was clearly touching very close the Philippine and Malaysian shores.

This proves that it indeed wanted to conquer the whole island chain and it doesnt mind at all if it worries the affected countries or not.

This action shows too much greed, disrespect and bullying.
Posted Image

" Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them! - Art. II Sec 1, Philippine Constitution "


" People don't care what we know until they know we care. "


getflipzi@yahoo.com
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
arvcab
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  *  * ]
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/south-china-sea-d...-030057048.html

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Risks are growing that incidents at sea involving China could lead to war in Asia, an Australian policy think tank warned on Tuesday.
Concentrated on the South and East China seas, the risk-taking behaviour of the Chinese military, resource needs, and greater assertiveness, raised the possibility of armed conflict that could draw in the United States and other powers, the Lowy Institute said in a report.
"The sea lanes of Indo-Pacific Asia are becoming more crowded, contested and vulnerable to armed strife. Naval and air forces are being strengthened amid shifting balances of economic strategic weight," report authors Rory Medcalf and Raoul Heinrichs wrote.
"China's frictions with the United States, Japan and India are likely to persist and intensify. As the number and tempo of incidents increases, so does the likelihood that an episode will escalate to armed confrontation, diplomatic crisis or possibly even conflict," the report said.
The study on major powers and maritime security in Indo-Pacific Asia was published as China prepares to unveil its first aircraft carrier, perhaps this week, a development has caused worries in the region about China's ongoing military expansion.
Earlier this month, China sent its biggest civilian patrol ship to the South China Sea. That rattled the Philippines, which makes competing claims to some waters thought to hold vast oil and gas reserves.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution that deplored China's use of force against Vietnamese and Philippine ships in South China Sea.
"DANGER ZONE"
Medcalf and Heinrichs said more maritime patrols and intrusive surveillance, coupled with nationalism and resources disputes, all make it harder to manage arguments over maritime sovereignty.
"All of these factors are making Asia a danger zone for incidents at sea: close-range encounters involving vessels and aircraft from competing powers, typically in sensitive or contested zones," the report said.
The report detailed tensions between China and Japan, stemming from the April 2010 Chinese naval exercise near Japan's southern Okinawa islands, followed by Japan's arrest of a Chinese fisherman, whose trawler rammed a Japanese coastguard vessel.
Those incidents provoked a diplomatic crisis and saw China cut its exports of crucial rare earth minerals to Japan.
Despite initial signs of warmer bilateral ties following the March tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, security relations remain tense after Japan a month earlier scrambled fighter jets when Chinese surveillance planes approached disputed islands.
"Helicopter buzzing incidents have continued, with Japan deploring as especially insensitive an instance that occurred in the weeks following the March disaster," the report said.
It said Beijing has caused concern in other Southeast Asian nations over its "core interest" claim on the South China Sea, and in Australia about China's possible future security behaviour, while there was widespread speculation that competition between India and China at sea was "only a matter of time."
Medcalf and Heinrichs said new efforts were needed to build regional confidence and to involve China in a continued military dialogue with the United States and Japan.
They also said maritime security hotlines were needed between the U.S. and China, and Japan and China, to allow real-time responses to any incidents.
(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Balazs Koranyi and Daniel Magnowski)
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
AVBsupersonic
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  *  * ]
Philippines: A rules-based regime in the South China Sea
By James Cordova Jun 27, 2011 9:34AM UTC

Quote:
 
Albert F. Del Rosario, the secretary of the Philippines’s Department of Foreign Affairs, recently circulated an op-ed piece that aims to put in perspective his country’s position on the South China Sea dispute. I am reprinting the piece in full for the benefit of those who have been following this issue in this space.



A rules-based regime in the South China Sea

By Albert F. Del Rosario

The rule of law is the bedrock of peace, order and fairness in modern societies. The rise of a rules-based international system has been the great equalizer in global affairs. Respect and adherence to international law have preserved peace and resolved conflicts. International law has given equal voice to nations regardless of political, economic or military stature, banishing the unlawful use of sheer force.

Nowhere is the pursuit and promotion of a rules-based international system more germane, than in the definition and the protection of the integrity of the territory of a country. An established and well-defined territory, terrestrial or maritime, is a sine qua non for the existence of any nation-state. In a global community of complementing and competing interests, a rules-based international system bestows clarity, definitiveness and legitimacy to territorial claims.

Where there are disputes, rules provide an effective tool for peaceful and fair resolution.

Not since the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef incident in 1995 has the Philippines faced serious challenges in the West Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the South China Sea (SCS). For instance, our ownership of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) features and our legitimate maritime jurisdictions have been contested by certain nations, even as the Philippines’ sovereignty and jurisdiction over the KIG are firmly grounded on international law.

A rules-based approach therefore provides the key to securing our claims and advancing the peaceful settlement of disputes for all in the SCS.

For the Philippines, certainly, the primacy of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is the cornerstone on which we define and protect our territory and maritime entitlements in the SCS. It is this principle and the requirements of UNCLOS that governed the passage in 2009 of the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (R.A. 9522).

The same principles underpin the two vital pieces of proposed legislation defining our maritime zones and archipelagic sea lanes which have been certified as urgent by President Benigno S. Aquino III.

International law is also the guidepost by which the Philippines engages parties — claimants and non-claimants alike — towards a peaceful and just resolution of disputes and the guarantee of freedom of navigation in the SCS.

This same pursuit of a rules-based system was behind the adoption of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC).

Paragraph 5 of the DoC provides that “the Parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including, among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited reefs, shoals, cays, and other features and to handle their differences in a constructive manner.” It is noted that this very provision is being aggressively violated.

Under the DoC, the Parties also affirmed the need for a binding Code of Conduct (CoC) and agreed to work towards its realization. A CoC would concretely express our collective goal for rules-based actions by all concerned Parties.

To reinforce this goal, we offer a framework that transforms the SCS from an area of dispute to a Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship, and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C) by a segregation of disputed relevant features from the undisputed waters of the SCS consistent with UNCLOS. In the words of President Aquino, ZoPFF/C is a modality for ensuring that “what is ours is ours, and with what is disputed, we can work towards joint cooperation.”

For example, Recto (Reed) Bank is part of the continental shelf of the western coast of Palawan Province in the Philippines. It is about 85 nautical miles from the nearest coast of Palawan and therefore well within the 200 nautical miles Continental Shelf of the Philippine archipelago under UNCLOS. In contrast, it is roughly 595 nautical miles from the nearest coast of China. This means that the Philippines has unequivocal sovereign rights over Recto (Reed) Bank.

Since the Recto (Reed) Bank is ours, it can only be exclusively developed by the Philippines. The Philippines may however invite foreign investors to assist in developing the area in accordance with Philippine laws.

The disputed features, on the other hand, can be transformed into a Joint Cooperation Area for joint development and the establishment of a marine protected area for biodiversity conservation under ZoPFF/C.

We are confident that ZoPFF/C represents an important contribution to securing peace, stability and progress in the SCS within a rule-of-law framework, and that the concept deserves serious and favorable consideration by countries with stakes in the SCS.

The Philippines’ policy in the SCS, both with respect to securing its terrestrial and maritime domain and to advocating dispute resolution and joint cooperation where applicable, is grounded on an unwavering adherence to international law. Since international law must be observed, it behooves the Philippines to embrace this imperative to the fullest.

We expect nothing less from our international partners.


Source
"Some are just lucky that they're not under oath and are not classified!"- Blue badge
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
atreidesx69
Trainee
[ *  * ]
Red China only adheres to international law when it suits them. We shouldn't allow ourselves to be intimidated by their bullying. If they put up markers in our islands in the West Philippines Sea, then we must remove them and put up twice as many markers. If they continue to harass our fishermen, we should arrest their poachers wholesale. If they put up permanent structures then we must do the same. Reinforce the troops we have in the islands that we occupy, a handful wouldn't do, at least a company's worth. The islands we claim are within a banca's reach from Palawan, it shouldn't be too hard to beef up our presence in those islands. And we should pro-actively seek more assistance from the US and expand military cooperation with them.
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
2 users reading this topic (2 Guests and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · West Philippine Sea · Next Topic »
Locked Topic