PHILSTAR OPINION BY ALEXMAGNO: FLIMSY
MANILA, MARCH 8, 2011 (PHILSTAR) FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno - Pray tell: why is this administration trying to dispatch a low-level technical bureaucrat to Beijing to discuss the Chinese Navy's "harassment" of one of our ships in the Spratlys?
The M/V Venture is described as a research vessel operated by the Department of Energy. Last week, two Chinese ships tried to "sandwich" the Venture while it was undertaking research in the disputed islands. The ship radioed for help and the Philippine Coast Guard responded by dispatching two search and rescue vessels.
The DFA immediately fired off a note verbale to Beijing. The diplomatic note demands an explanation from the Chinese side regarding the behavior of its naval vessels towards the M/V Venture. As of this writing, Beijing has not found it of any urgency to respond to that diplomatic communication.
Maybe Beijing will never respond to that note. If Beijing does bother a reply, the response will probably be the standard Chinese line: the waters around the Spratlys are part of China's territorial waters. Our ship, therefore, even if it was just a few kilometers off Palawan, strayed into Chinese territory.
We should expect such brusque treatment. When our Congress deliberated a bill specifying our country's baselines, the Spratlys was excluded. It was, instead, defined as a "regime of islands" — which significantly weakens our claim.
China unabashedly insists on its "historical right" over the potentially oil-rich area — even if historical claims have lost standing in modern international law. She backs up that claim by establishing what is effectively a naval base in the disputed island cluster.
The delegation our government wants to send to Beijing is projected to be headed by Henry Bensurto, head of the Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs. Government notices describe his as some sort of "Spratlys expert" — whatever that means.
What this delegation will do in Beijing we do not know. Is there some expectation that this bureaucrat will convince China to revise its claim or behave better towards our "trespassing" vessels?
It appears that our diplomatic response to Chinese bullying is flimsy at best, uninformed at worst.
There is something called the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea entered into between ASEAN and China. This complements other agreements among the claimants aiming towards some sort of mutual benefit from whatever natural resource there are in the disputed islands.
If we feel aggrieved by the Chinese Navy's treatment of our research vessel, we should have taken this up with the ASEAN and tried to build a regional united front against the regional bully. It is, after all, the ASEAN that is the party in the Declaration, representing the interests of Southeast Asian claimants.
Our official response makes us vulnerable since we are trying to take on Beijing unilaterally rather than multilaterally. We are setting ourselves up for yet another snub.
Foreign diplomats I have talked to the past few weeks fret about the apparent absence of a formal foreign policy apparatus under the present dispensation. They have no clear reference point about where our policy lies. That is compounded by President Aquino II's propensity to make foreign policy statements off the cuff.
One Palace insider is now widely quoted in academic circles for admitting they are doing things by "ouido." That is not reassuring for foreign governments we work with.
Presidential Trust
In another setting, LTO chief Virginia Torres might be described as "beleaguered."
The DILG Secretary confirmed the charges filed against her for involvement in the highly irregular registration of hot cars. The DOTC Secretary thinks she ought to be suspended from her post while an inquiry in is progress over her official acts. The Justice Secretary last week recommended cases be filed against Torres for grave misconduct.
Notwithstanding, President Aquino II reiterated his trust in his appointee, a townmate and shooting range buddy. Insiders at the LTO say the agency chief has such tremendous influence with the President that if the three Cabinet members insist on their position, it is they, not Torres, who will probably court the Palace's disfavor.
In reiterating his trust in his appointee, President Aquino II made no mention of the DOTC fact-finding committee's recommendation. The committee, headed by Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, recommended that the DOTC and the Office of the President suspend Torres for neglect and incompetence.
By simply reiterating his trust in his appointee, is President Aquino effectively rejecting the DOJ recommendation? Is presidential sentiment now more important than official procedures in disciplining public officials?
Aquino's very public reaffirmation of trust in his controversial appointee is, on the flipside, a rebuke of his more senior Cabinet officials — all three of them.
In another, more formal, setting, the Justice Secretary (or at least her undersecretary principally responsible for the report against Torres) might be constrained to tender a resignation letter. She has just been very publicly rebuked by her principal, she who holds her position as presidential alter ego on the basis of presidential trust. The first time she was subjected to this treatment was when the report of her "review committee" was re-submitted by the President to yet another review team.
Things should not have come to this uneasy point had Aquino refrained from making such an unwarranted public endorsement of Torres. The President's propensity for talking when he should not has created more fiascos than his months in office.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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