SOLON URGED PALACE TO HOLD DIALOGUE WITH SPRATLY CLAIMANTS
MANILA, JUNE 8, 2011 (STAR) By Paolo Romero and Evelyn Macairan - Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone urged Malacañang yesterday to initiate a dialogue with all countries claiming the Spratlys.
In a privilege speech last night, Evardone called on the executive and Congress to work closely to strengthen the Philippine claim to the islands and help in the peaceful resolution of the dispute.
"National security depends to a significant extent on the quality of our border relations with our neighbors," he said.
"This is the reason why we must exert every effort to bring the claimants to the negotiating table and discuss the way forward. We cannot indefinitely shelve the dispute as one country would want it.
"As a small developing country, the Philippines cannot afford an overt conflict in the area, not just because of our limited capability to defend our claims by military force, but more importantly because we need a stable regional environment for us to devote all our resources, energy and time to economic and other productive endeavors."
Evardone said the Spratlys is the country's most serious territorial and sovereignty concern after Sabah.
"For once, Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of this chamber, let us pay attention to this vexing territorial issue that has roiled much of Southeast Asia, an issue that is also a threat to the historical comity and solidarity among nations in the region," he said.
Evardone urged lawmakers to review the Philippines' legal claim over the Spratlys, assess the requirements of the Armed Forces to maintain a credible presence on the Kalayaan, and assess the efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs on the diplomatic front. "Congress should help identify the way forward on the Spratlys, the resolution to this territorial conundrum of many decades," he said. "Peacefully, for the sake of the region and our country. And beneficially – so all the claimants can have their share of the region's awesome bounty."
Evardone said Congress should advocate, forcefully and on a sustained basis, a peaceful management in the South China Sea.
"Once and for all, Congress should help the executive branch, which has mandate over sensitive external relations – more so one that involves Southeast Asia – find a desired closure to the Spratly Islands issue," he said.
Bishop: Find peaceful settlement
A Catholic Church official urged yesterday a peaceful settlement to the Spratlys issue. Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines public affairs committee chairman, said that the issue of ownership of the Spratlys must be resolved diplomatically.
"We should always look for peaceful ways to resolve the matter," he said.
"We owe it to our people and to the world to advocate and work for peace."
Countries claiming the Spratlys must always go for dialogue, not conflicts, Iniguez said.
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