Senators on Wednesday debated extensively on a decision urging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to name out China’s aggression within the West Philippine Sea (WPS) earlier than the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Senator Risa Hontiveros sponsored Senate Resolution 659, which seeks to exhaust all obtainable diplomatic means to say the nation’s rightful claims over the WPS amid China’s “reckless, unrepentant, and continuous incursion” within the space.
“Now that our country has received a snowballing of support for our lawful claims in the West Philippine Sea, now that we are at an optimal juncture to call on more nations to rally behind our cause, now is the time to push for this course of action,” Hontiveros mentioned in sponsoring her decision.
She famous the expressions of help—from the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia—for the nation’s 2016 victory on the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated China’s nine-dash line claiming practically the whole lot of the South China Sea.
“A UNGA resolution could bolster the Arbitral Award…A UNGA resolution is in the interest not only of the Philippines but also the entire community of nations; nations that have learned not just the follies but also the limits of force and war, and have sworn never to repeat that bitter lesson,” Hontiveros mentioned.
The decision was co-sponsored by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senate protection committee chairman Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Raffy Tulfo.
However, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, a former Foreign Affairs secretary, argued that the UN may not be the correct discussion board, saying that China prefers bilateral talks on territorial disputes and that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. didn’t point out this plan of action as a part of the federal government’s technique.
“We agree and we are all outraged by the actions of China, but is the UNGA the right forum for us to get justice? I’m not saying it’s the wrong forum [but] what I’m saying is that under our constitution and jurisprudence, the chief architect [of foreign policy] is the president. It has never been the House or the Senate. So it is the president who will say what is our strategy, where we will go,” Cayetano mentioned in his interpellation.
Hontiveros maintained that the UNGA is among the proper fora to convey up the difficulty with China’s incursion to collect “diplomatic and political support” of different UN member-countries.
She agreed with Cayetano that the president is the chief architect of overseas coverage, and mentioned that the decision’s intention is to ask the DFA to sponsor a decision earlier than the UNGA because the alter ego of the president.
Zubiri additionally clarified to Cayetano that the decision expresses the sense of the Senate to ask the Executive Department, which was headed by the president, to take motion on this concern.
But Cayetano insisted that this technique is likely to be futile as there isn’t a physique that will drive China to comply with the choice of the complete UN.
“The point of diplomacy, lalo na kung walang world power na mag-e-enforce, is that we have to align a policy with strategy that something can actually get done,” he mentioned.
He bolstered his argument by citing the instances of Vietnam and Malaysia, which he mentioned are resolving their territorial disputes in opposition to China via bilateral talks. He mentioned each Southeast Asian nations didn’t file a case earlier than the Permanent Court of Arbitration nor the UNGA.
Cayetano additionally famous that China is keen to speak to ASEAN to settle disputes within the South China Sea, however that the superpower doesn’t need different nations outdoors the area to meddle with the negotiations.
“Im not saying it’s a wrong strategy. I’m saying you can look back in history and see the results of the two and im saying that the Senate should tread carefully and get the right information…” he mentioned.
But Zubiri argued that China shouldn’t be being devoted to its statements.
“Mahirap makipag-usap sa isang bansa na hindi naman matino. If there were goodwill measures to our discussions and negotiations, eh wala po sana tayong problema,” Zubiri mentioned.
“Unfortunately, even in our embassy right here, nangyari na sa akin ‘yan—hindi naman nabudol pero I was thrown under the bus when he told me about something about POGO and I shared it about everybody at sabi niya kasinungalingan. ‘Yun pala totoo pala ang sinabi niya and I can prove that with the witnesses that were with me there,” he said, referring to his conversation with Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian who reportedly told him that Philippines is on China’s tourism blacklist resulting from POGOs.
Still, Cayetano argued that the DFA ought to have the help of the president ought to it heed the decision of the Senate to convey up China’s intrusions within the WPS earlier than the UNGA.
“A diplomat cannot say anything of his personal opinion, only that of the instruction of the chief diplomat. That’s what my point here, the chief diplomat has not stated that he wants this taken up sa UN and yes, we are not a rubber stamp and yes, may sariling pag-iisip ang Senate pero ang konstitusyon mismo ang nagsabi na dapat ang presidente ang may diskarte at jurisprudence ang nagpapatunay non,” he argued.
Cayetano then appealed to his colleagues to sort out the decision in a committee or conduct briefings with the Chinese ambassador and suppose tanks from Southeast Asia earlier than adopting the measure.
“I guarantee you, if we simply pass this resolution, tapon lang natin sa UNGA, madi-disappoint tayo because history has proven…that UNGA is for consensus. It is not for highly contentious issues like this. It’s so important that if we don’t get all the information and study it well and maybe help the DFA craft the resolution itself, kung ‘yun ang desisyon natin. Baka maging negative pa sa atin ito later on,” he warned.
“If countries close to China vote against us, they will not implement this, it will make our PCA arbitration ruling even weaker,” he added.
While he clarified that he agrees together with his colleagues by way of condemning China’s intrusions, Cayetano mentioned taking this up with the UNGA is “such a big step.”
“Even if we can do it, should we do it without consulting the Executive Department? Because it might weaken us in front of the international community,” he mentioned.
At the top of the dialogue, Cayetano requested the Senate president to sort out the decision in a caucus on Monday, saying there are some delicate items of data that is likely to be monitored by different claimants.
The caucus can also be meant to debate the “implications of not being in sync with the strategy of the president.”
Zubiri knowledgeable the physique of an all-member caucus at 1:30 p.m. Monday and requested the Senate secretariat to ask Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Presidential Adviser to the WPS retired General Andres Centino, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea. — BM, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
