I feel it is my duty to present to all Filipinos the efforts made by
the Philippine delegation to seek the unified support of Asean for the
West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) issue that affects not only its
member countries but the region as a whole.
Through this article, I hope to present the real picture during the
ministerial meeting from the point of view of a Filipino, and in the
process, correct the grave misimpression generated by some who were not
present during those meetings.
The nonissuance of the customary joint communiqué after the 45th
Asean Ministerial Meeting expectedly generated considerable reactions
and commentaries because it was unprecedented in Asean's 45 years of
existence.
However, many of those reactions/commentaries were based on
erroneous information. It is therefore essential to lay down the facts.
1. Fiction: There was no joint communiqué because Asean failed to agree on the code of conduct on the South China Sea.
Never before has our relations in the regional association been as
strained as it is today—and much of the blame might be put on the
Philippine side.
Fact: Asean had already agreed on the key elements of the proposed
code of conduct on the South China Sea for discussion with China.
The Philippines was successful in having its suggested main elements included to give the code the substance it requires.
The strain being felt by Asean is not attributable to the
Philippines but it was reportedly due to the failure of the Asean chair
(Cambodia) to gain a consensus.
Within the Asean framework, the Philippines needed to be resolute in giving primacy to national interest.
2. Fiction: The Philippine foreign minister denounced Chinese
"duplicity" and "intimidation" in the South China Sea, souring the mood
at the meeting designed to soothe tensions.
Fact: The "souring of the mood" was attributed by everyone who was
there to the failure of Asean to issue a joint communiqué, resulting
from the Asean chair's firm position not to reflect the recent
developments in the South China Sea despite the view of the majority of
the member states that these developments impinge on the overall
security of the region.
On the reference to "duplicity and intimidation," the Philippines
forged an agreement with a neighbouring country for the simultaneous
pullout of all vessels inside the shoal, which we undertook in good
faith on June 4. Furthermore, the neighbouring country agreed to remove
its barrier at the entrance of the shoal.
Yet to this day, the neighbouring country has not fulfilled its
obligations under the agreement and has maintained its ships inside and
outside the shoal, as well as its barrier, in its aim to establish
effective control and jurisdiction in the shoal and surrounding waters.
3. Fiction: The Philippines "unilaterally escalated the rhetoric on
the matter of contested islets and shoals—and then invoked the entire
Asean community as a party to the confrontation."
Fact: The Philippines has been approaching the issue with patience
and tolerance as we endeavor to avail ourselves of all peaceful means
to resolve it in accordance with the rule of law.
96 shipping vessels
However, the neighbouring country decided to escalate the tensions
resulting in the deployment of numerous vessels, as high as 96 at one
point, as against our one vessel. The Philippines could not perpetually
remain mute on the brazen acts of infringement on its territory and
intimidation by a powerful country.
4. Fiction: "The very public statements emanating from Manila did
not benefit from careful, quiet consultations with our regional
partners."
Fact: As early as 2010, the Philippines has been conducting
bilateral consultations with its Asean partners on the issue of
competing claims in the West Philippine Sea. In 2011, it proposed a
framework in resolving the dispute within the Asean forum. This process
of consultation led to the Asean decision to refer the Philippine
proposal to Asean's maritime legal experts.
5. Fiction: "In the view of some of our neighbours, Manila failed
to do the patient work of consensus-building necessary for the
association to take an explicit and common position on a complex
territorial issue."
Fact: Precisely mindful of Asean's consensus-based decision-making
process, the Philippines has been in continuous consultations with its
Asean partners resulting in the Asean senior officials drafting of an
"Asean Foreign Ministers' Statement on the Situation in Scarborough
Shoal" on May 24.
On May 25, Secretary Albert del Rosario wrote the Asean chair
requesting that such a statement be referred to all Asean foreign
ministers for their consideration. Several foreign ministers endorsed
the issuance of such a statement.
One foreign minister, in particular, in his June 1 letter to the
Asean chair, stressed the "necessity for Asean to issue a timely
statement by the foreign ministers (on the issue) as our common effort
to contribute to the maintenance of an environment conducive in the
region which is of interest (to) all of us."
At the 45th Asean Ministerial Meeting, Secretary Del Rosario
discussed the situation in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. The text of the
proposed joint communiqué's item/subhead on the "South China Sea" was
drafted by the Asean foreign ministers and several revisions were
proposed to make the text acceptable to all.
Cambodia's consistent rejection
However, the Cambodian chair consistently rejected any proposed text that mentioned Scarborough Shoal.
On his website, the Singaporean foreign minister, K. Shanmugan,
said that it was a blow to Asean credibility that "it was unable to
deal with something that is happening in our neighbourhood and not say
something about it."
He added: "There's no point in papering over it. There was a
consensus among the majority of countries. The role of the chair in the
context is to forge a complete consensus amongst all. But that did not
happen."
6. Fiction: Phnom Penh's strong position against the Philippine
position in Asean is quietly shared by Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore
and Brunei.
Fact: As explained in Item No. 5, this view of the Philippines was
strongly supported by many countries, including Singapore, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Even the Asean secretary general
expressed support for it.
7. Fiction: "When the ministerial meeting failed to issue a
communiqué, the Philippine side bitterly accused Cambodia of, well,
doing Beijing's bidding."
Fact: We did not accuse Cambodia of doing Beijing's bidding,
choosing to remain silent; other quarters preferred not to be silent.
8. Fiction: "Our strategy is in disarray. After the embarrassing
outcome of the Phnom Penh meetings, we definitely have no Asean card to
play in the confrontational path we chose to take against China."
Fact: The Philippines has a three-track approach to advance its
interests in the West Philippine Sea—political, diplomatic and legal.
Asean is part of the political track.
The Philippines was able to gain the support of the majority of
Asean member states as well as that of the Asean secretariat on the
need to mention Scarborough Shoal in the proposed joint communiqué.
In all Asean meetings and in other forums, the Philippines has
consistently advocated a peaceful and rules-based approach in resolving
maritime territorial disputes in accordance with international law,
specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and has
been engaging China in continuing dialogues and consultations.
We are resolute in maintaining this strategic three-track approach.
9. Fiction: Our new ambassador to Beijing intimated that one of the
difficulties she must deal with in her assignment is a view among her
superiors that sees China as an enemy.
Fact: This is clearly a misquote of what has been written. The
mandate of the Department of Foreign Affairs is to reaffirm that we are
seeking positive relations with China as a friend and partner and that
the bilateral agenda should be vigorously pursued while abstracting
contentious issues that should be dealt with separately.
10. Fiction: The Philippine foreign minister, in disgust, walked out of the meeting.
Fact: Secretary Del Rosario stayed on to finish the meeting and was
steadfast in promoting and defending the Philippine national interest.
In fact, even when his microphone went silent as he first began to
speak on the Scarborough Shoal issue, Secretary Del Rosario strongly
articulated the Philippine position and proceeded to conclude his
remarks.
The writer is an Undersecretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs
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