InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA – A partylist lawmaker on Monday called on the Supreme Court to rule on a petition filed as far back as seven years ago questioning the validity of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU), which has apparently spurred China’s increasing incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
At the same time, Bayan Muna partylist Representative Neri Colmenares echoed the call of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to the international community to help the Philippines assert its sovereignty against foreign intervention.
“We also call on the Supreme Court to resolve the petition we filed in 2008 in response to China’s violating our territorial sovereignty. Our petition was aimed at asserting our claim to freedom from foreign intervention,” Colmenares said.
The joint marine seismic agreement, which was signed in 2005 and lapsed in 2008, was a tripartite accord among the Philippine National Oil Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Co. and Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. for offshore exploration activities covering 142,886 square kilometers.
The agreement provided that the three countries’ claims on the Spratly Islands would not be compromised.
The case was filed in 2008 by Colmenares’ colleagues in the Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives in 2008 — former Representatives Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna, the late Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, Liza Maza and Luzviminda Ilagan of the Gabriela Women’s party.
Former Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tanada III and then Bukidnon Representative and incumbent Senator Teofisto Guingona III also joined the petition.
Colmenares said that even though JMSU has already expired, there is still a need for the High Tribunal to rule on the case.
He explained that China might even use the data generated by JMSU still in its hands to buttress their claim in the disputed territories to the detriment of the country’s claim and position.
The resolution of the JMSU was raised anew following China’s recent acts of “bullying” by reclaiming at least 50 hectares of Mischief Reef.
“All Filipinos should denounce this unjust and dangerous action driving China’s expansionist policy based on its so-called 9-Dash Line border doctrine, which is without legal, historical and moral basis,” Colmenares said.
“We should defend our territory and exclusive economic zones, and President Aquino should fortify our positions in the area to counter China’s aggressive acts,” he added.
China was said to have created new artificial islets in two more reefs in the disputed South China Sea, which the Philippine military feared was meant to choke off access to Ayungin shoal, where a crumbling Philippine Navy ship was beached, according to Magdalo partylist Representative Francisco Ashley Acedillo, who cited a report by Vera Files.
Acedillo also sent to InterAksyon.com the latest maritime surveillance photos showing how China’s land reclamation was expanding to cover all the seven reefs it occupies.
In the article, Acedillo branded this move as “graver danger to the country’s national security.”
