MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Embassy in Manila said Beijing remained open for oil and gas exploration talks with Manila as long as the Philippines showed its sincerity for such discussion.
The embassy was asked to comment on the remarks of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a Bloomberg interview, that he was open to resuming discussions with China on a joint oil and gas project in a disputed area of the South China Sea.
It noted that China and the Philippines in the past "have conducted in-depth discussions on joint oil and gas development in disputed waters in the South China Sea and have made positive progress."
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the Philippine leader's state visit to Beijing on Jan. 5, 2023, issued a joint statement on the agreement “to resume discussions on oil and gas development at an early date.”
"As long as the Philippine side demonstrates sincerity, China’s door to dialogue and cooperation will remain open," the embassy said in a statement on Thursday.
"Setting aside differences and pursuing joint development is the right path to uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea and deliver benefits to countries in the region and their peoples," it added.
In 2023, then senator Francis Tolentino urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to carefully study the government's plan to have another round of gas exploration talks with China.
Tolentino said the DFA should take into consideration what the Constitution provides when it comes to the Philippines' rights in its exclusive economic zone.
He said the DFA should consider the 2016 Hague Arbitral ruling and the recent Supreme Court decision which invalidated the 2005 Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) before entering into another partnership with China.
But voting 12-2-1, the Supreme Court on Jan. 10, 2023 invalidated the tripartite agreement between China National Offshore Oil Corp., Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp., and Philippine National Oil Co. involving an area in the South China Sea covering 142,886 square kilometers.
The court ruled that the JSMU was unconstitutional for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country's natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution.
