The Supreme Court’s choice declaring unconstitutional the Philippines’ Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking in 2005 with China and Vietnam within the South China Sea stays related even after the JMSU expired in 2008, a petitioner within the case has mentioned.
Former Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino mentioned the ruling remained pertinent within the wake of renewed plans for the Philippines to tackle joint oil and fuel exploration with China within the resource-rich waters.
“Although it took 14 years for the Court to resolve the case, the ruling is as relevant as ever considering [President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.]’s plan to enter into a joint exploration of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to China,” Casiño mentioned on Twitter.
“May this be a warning to Mr. Marcos not to trifle with the constitutional provisions that reserve the exploitation of our natural resources exclusively to Filipinos and under the full supervision and control of the Philippine government,” he mentioned.
GMA News Online has sought Malacanang’s remark as regards the Supreme Court’s latest ruling on the JMSU and Casino’s remarks and can publish its remarks on the problem as soon as they’re accessible.
Marcos in Beijing mentioned the Philippines and China would proceed negotiations as regards joint oil and fuel explorations within the South China Sea.
Asked if the ruling on the enterprise can have any impact on the joint exploration the Philippines is now negotiating with China, SC spokesman Atty. Brian Hosaka mentioned, “The court cannot speculate on that.”
“The decision was in connection to the 2005 JMSU,” Hosaka mentioned.
Bayan Muna Chairperson Atty. Neri Colmenares mentioned he had but to learn the SC choice however mentioned the petition argued that the firms concerned within the deal ought to be “at least 60% Filipino-owned and the exploration of our natural resources must be under the control and supervision” of the Philippines.
“If other countries or transnational corporations are willing to agree to such a constitutional requirement then the Marcos government may argue that it falls outside the ambit of the decision,” Colmenares instructed GMA News Online.
“If, however, China insists on its claim of ownership of WPS then it is unconstitutional. China has to accede to our Constitution if it wants to have joint exploration in our territory or territorial claim,” he added.
The JMSU is an settlement by the Philippine National Oil Company, the China National Offshore Oil Corp., and the Vietnam Oil Gas Corp. as regards oil exploration in 142,886 sq. kilometers of the South China Sea.
It expired on June 30, 2008.
The SC en banc has dominated that the deal was unconstitutional because it allowed wholly-owned overseas firms to discover the nation’s pure sources. —NB, GMA Integrated News
