MANILA, Philippines — The implementation of the proposed joint exploration between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea could have prevented the ramming incident involving vessels of the two countries, former Foreign Affairs Sec. Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday.

“Kung natuloy ‘yung oil and gas [exploration agreement] at kung itutuloy, it will prevent mishaps like this in the West Philippine Sea. Bakit? Because when you’re doing business together pino-protekatahan mo palagi ‘yan,” Cayetano said during the press conference of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) Foundation Inc. which he chairs.

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(If the oil and gas exploration agreement pushed through, it will prevent mishaps like this in the West Philippine Sea. Why? Because when you’re doing business together, you help protect it.)

“So like right now may hotline pero walang protocol ang Coast Guard natin at Coast Guard nila so masyado tayong prone sa aksidente or sa machinations ng either opposing side or a third party,” he added.

(So like right now there is a hotline but no protocol between our Coast Guard and their Coast Guard. So we are prone to accidents and machinations from either side or a third party.)

The former senator also defended the administration’s “careful” stance on the ramming incident.

“We have to be careful because geopolitics ang involved dito. Hindi pinag-uusapan dito kung pro-Filipino ka o hindi… ang pinag-uusapan dito ang approach sa problema. So sana mas maging creative tayo sa approach at tignan natin nga ‘yung cooperation agreements,” Cayetano said.

(We have to be careful because geopolitics is involved here. Whether you are pro-Filipino or not is beside the point. What is being discussed here is the approach to the problem. So I hope we get more creative in the approach and look into the cooperation agreements.)

“Ganun din pagdating sa presevation ng environment, ‘yung giant clams, wala namang mawawala kung mag-uusap eh…” he continued.

(The same way with the issue on the preservation of the environment …[the issue on the] the giant clams. We are not going to lose if we continue the talks.)

While both sides should initiate a thorough investigation, and that someone should be held accountable for the incident, Cayetano maintained that a bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreement could solve similar “mishaps.”

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The incoming Taguig-Pateros representative said that when he left the Department of Foreign Affairs, the joint exploration was just a step away from implementation. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) on oil and gas development is being finalized.

In November 2018, Presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Xi Jinping witnessed the exchange of the undisclosed MOU.

Cayetano said the MOU covers the Recto Bank (Reed Bank) where a Chinese vessel rammed and abandoned a Filipino fishing boat with 22 fishermen on June 9.

READ: Duterte’s ‘insulting remarks’ on PH boat sinking draw flak

Duterte had dismissed the incident as a “little maritime incident,” almost similar to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang’s remark that the boat sinking was “an ordinary maritime traffic accident.”

Meanwhile, Albert del Rosario, the Foreign Affairs Secretary during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, said he had “firsthand experience” that “China is not to be trusted, that their word is unreliable.”

“When China makes a declaration, you can almost be sure that it is not consistent with what is happening on the ground,” he said in a statement. (Editor: Eden Estopace)

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