MANILA, Philippines — Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday said the Philippines would be “committing suicide” if the government entered into oil and gas explorations in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) with China, given its definition of joint development which completely goes against the Constitution.
“For the Chinese, joint development means they own the oil and gas. But out of friendship, they allow other countries to participate in developing the gas or oil field,” Carpio said in a television interview on Wednesday.
For Caprio, the Philippines cannot accept that because the Reed Bank, among the areas believed to be rich in natural gas, is within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and that the Constitution reserves the use and enjoyment of the marine resources in the exclusive economic zone exclusively to Filipino citizens.
“So, we cannot accept the condition of China that they own the oil and gas. That's against our constitution. That's against the [2016] arbitral award,” Carpio said.
Caprio said that this was the very reason former president Rodrigo Duterte, through his former Foreign Affairs secretary Teddy Boy Locsin, completely terminated the talks on oil and gas explorations in 2022. China, at the last minute, demanded two service contract provisions — to remove the phrase saying oil and gas belonged to the Philippines and that the deal would be governed by Philippine law.
“So, you do not see the Philippines benefiting from this possible joint exploration. That kind of joint development where we acknowledge that China owns the oil and (2:25) gas is against the Constitution. No government can enter into such an agreement,” Carpio said.
Even the Armed Forces of the Philippines reiterated that China was “not a reliable partner” in negotiations given their historical coercion and aggression in Philippine waters.
