Senator Panfilo Lacson on Saturday expressed willingness to enter into joint exploration with other nations in the West Philippine Sea as long as the country gets the controlling stake.
Lacson said foreign investors should follow the constitutional provision that entities involve in the exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources through co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements must be at least 60% Filipino-owned.
“If it’s 60-40 it only shows we own those islands. We have sovereign rights over these areas,” he said in a virtual forum organized by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines.
“If they will adhere to the 60-40 provision of the Constitution when it comes to joint ventures then I’m all for it. If not maybe we should go back and review our security situation,” he added.
Lacson was asked about his position on a possible joint exploration with other countries, including China, in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines and China have been embroiled in years-long territorial disputes in the South China Sea, particularly in the area Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea.
China’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas under the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, was declared illegal by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016.
Despite the dispute, the Philippines and China forged in November 2018 a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on oil and gas development in the South China Sea.
In 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he was amenable to a 60-40 sharing in favor of the Philippines on the joint exploration scheme.
Lacson, meanwhile, called for a “balance of power” in the disputed region.
“We are a very weak country militarily compared to China. And the only way we can secure the area is through a balance of power,” he said.
“When I say balance of power, we should rely on other countries as militarily strong as China. We have a mutual defense treaty with the United States and I think that is a potent weapon in our arsenal yet untapped. We have bilateral agreements with Australia, with Japan, with other countries,” the senator said.
Lacson added that the European Union had expressed willingness to patrol the area “because they have their own interests because after all foreign policy is always anchored on national interest.”
“So we should seize the opportunity that other countries are also interested in securing the area,” he said.
Lacson also recommended a “future-proof” economic strategy to support the country’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need to move forward and fast, otherwise we will drown in this state of misery. Our approach to this health crisis must be proactive not reactive based only on science and driven by accurate data and not by pandemic politics and never motivated by malevolent opportunism to make money out of the people’s difficulty and misery,” he said.
He also pushed for funding for the Universal Healthcare Act to cover all barangays, ensure optimal benefits for healthcare workers, and achieve the target of 1:800 hospital bed to population ratio.
Lacson earlier said he would craft a lockdown exit strategy in consultation with health experts.
He also said he intends to have “less government intervention” in the mass immunization program against COVID-19.
Lacson filed on October 6 his certificate of candidacy for president in the May 2022 elections, with Senate President Vicente Sotto III as running mate.
The presidential aspirant is running under Partido Reporma, which installed him as their chairman in July. — VBL, GMA News
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