Philippine ship pull-out calms tensions—China

MANILA, Philippines— Welcoming President Aquino’s order pulling out two ships from a disputed shoal, China on Monday expressed hope it would calm tensions.

“The Chinese side has been urging the Philippine side to take measures to de-escalate the situation,” Chinese embassy spokesman Zhang Hua said in a statement.

“We have noticed the withdrawal of government vessels by the Philippine side, and hope this action will help ease the tension.”

Philippine Foreign Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said Aquino ordered the vessels to leave the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine (South China) Sea on Friday night as passing tropical storm “Butchoy” (international name: Gutchol) dumped heavy rains across large parts of the Philippines.

Hernandez stressed this did not mean the country was giving up on the shoal but he would not say if any Philippine ships would be returning after the weather improved.

He said both China and the Philippines had agreed to pull its ships out of a lagoon of the shoal, but there was no accord to withdraw from the area permanently.

He added that as of the last count on Thursday, there were still seven Chinese ships at the shoal.
A statement on the Chinese embassy’s website Monday, meanwhile, said Beijing had deployed a vessel to help its fishermen pull out of the shoal as well due to bad weather and a strong tide.

The Philippine vessels had been posted in Scarborough Shoal, which the Chinese call Huangyan Island, over the past two months amid a tense territorial standoff.

A larger number of Chinese maritime patrol vessels as well as fishing boats were also in the area, according to the Philippines, though both sides imposed unilateral fishing bans in the area during the dispute.

The dispute began after Chinese government vessels blocked Philippine ships from arresting Chinese fishermen near the shoal on April 10.

Since then, both countries have maintained ships there to press their respective claims to the area.
China claims nearly all of the West Philippine Sea, even waters close to the coasts of neighboring countries. The Philippines says the shoal is well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines and Vietnam have in recent years accused China of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking its claim.

The shoal sits about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. The nearest major Chinese landmass is 1,200 kilometers northwest of the shoal, according to Philippine navy maps.

Boracay tourist arrivals up despite China cancellations

ILOILO CITY—Cancellations of tourist bookings from China have failed to make a dent on tourist arrivals on Boracay Island for the first half of the year, data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed.

Tourist arrivals from January to May this year reached 616,210, up by 43.18 percent compared to the 430,383 tourists who went to the island-resort during the same period last year.

Revenues recorded in the comparative period also increased by 43.18 percent from P7.911 billion last year to P11.328 billion this year.

Tourists from China, for the first half of the year, increased from 20,596 to 57,503 while those from Hong Kong also increased from 2,435 to 3,051 compared to last year.

Last month, resorts and hotels on Boracay Island reported cancellation of bookings of tourists from China amid the ongoing standoff over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

China is the third-biggest market for foreign tourists in Western Visayas following Korea and the United States.

But tourist arrivals from China last month still reached 4,415, higher than the 4,187 in the same month last year. Tourists from Hong Kong slightly dropped by almost half from 816 to 426.

“Whatever impact of the cancellations of tour packages from China was easily covered by tourists from other countries,” said Helen Catalbas, DOT regional director.

She said individual Chinese tourists not covered by tours were still coming.

“Tour operators from Taiwan even welcomed the slack in tour packages from China because of better packages and more rooms for their clients,” she said.

Tourists from Taiwan reached 43,042 from January to May this year, up from the 31,750 in the same period last year.

The DOT in Western Visayas will conduct a seminar for Taiwanese tour guides and operators staying in Boracay in preparation for more tourists from Taiwan.

She said tourism in the region would also be boosted with the start of direct international flights between Iloilo  and Hong Kong and Singapore.

More Scarborough Shoal news here.

US military chief’s visit to improve bilateral relations—AFP spokesman

MANILA, Philippines — The visit of the United States Joint Chief of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey in the Philippines underscores the importance of the Philippines as an ally of the US, a military spokesman said.

The meeting between Dempsey and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Jessie Dellosa is part of the Mutual Defense Treaty, Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr. told reporters.
“It will enhance further the bilateral relations of both countries,” he said.

But Burgos added that with or without the ongoing standoff at Scarborough Shoal between China and Philippines, the meeting would have still happened as part of the MDT.

The two military leaders will discuss security issues including the West Philippine Sea, security in Mindanao, among others, he added.

The meeting is a chance to conclude the discussion at the 11th Asia Security Summit of International for Strategic Studies which both Dempsey and Dellosa attended several days ago, Burgos also said.
Dempsey arrived for the meeting at General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo Monday morning where he was given arrival honors.

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Navy exec says size of PH warships shouldn’t matter

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City—The American vessels that the government bought and turned into warships may not have impressed a public awed by modern Chinese ships now guarding the contested Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

But Vice Admiral Alexander Pama, Navy flag officer in command, on Saturday said the vessels’ size and age should not really matter. He said the Navy is upgrading its technology, not in response to the standoff at Scarborough, but as part of a scheduled upgrade that was started several years ago.

Yet improving the Navy’s technology also requires enough time for its personnel to familiarize themselves with modern equipment, he said, after addressing the cadets comprising the Philippine Military Academy’s “Gabay-Laya” Class of 2016.

“Even if I had all the money in the world, I myself will not be getting all the top-of-the-line equipment [immediately] … the reason being there has to be some form of transition. You are used to riding a bicycle or a tricycle and suddenly you buy a Mercedes Benz,” Pama told the Inquirer.

In his speech, Pama said: “The constant challenge we face, as with the rest of the other branches of service, is the urgent need for our capacity-enhancement and capability-building in the face of regional and transnational threats.”

Amid scarcity of resources, he said the government had found ways of securing the cutters BRP Del Pilar PF-15 and BRP Alcaraz PF-16, which would be commissioned in December.

He said the government is also buying frigates and has improved the country’s coast watch systems.
“There has to be a sort of transition for our people to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills and that’s even more important than acquiring anything else,” he said.

When asked, Pama said public impressions were correct about the Navy’s outdated equipment.

He said the shoal standoff had drawn policymakers to the demands of beefing up the country’s fleet.
“Admittedly, the military did not receive proper attention for a while, which is understandable because the government has other priorities,” he said.

The new warships were former US Coast Guard vessels, which were outfitted and sold to the Philippines without their weapon systems.

Pama said these vessels “serve our purpose, the purpose being the size of the ship [enables the Navy] to bring it to patrol areas when before, navigating these seas had been difficult for the older vessels.”

“Just because [these vessels are] X number of years, it does not mean they are useless. They are not,” he said.


“The size of the ships conforms with our operational demands. It’s not that new but then again, it’s an easier step to transition into the necessary skills [for operating modern vessels],” he said.  


Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Scarborough Shoal news

Aquino OKs aid for banana farmers

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III has approved in principle an assistance program for banana farmers affected by stricter measures imposed by China on the country’s banana exports in the wake of a standoff over Scarborough Shoal, which both countries claim.

Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said Mr. Aquino met with members of the Cabinet’s economic cluster on Thursday and ordered that details of the program be finalized.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters the assistance program was the government’s short-term response to the situation and that the long-term plan was to find new markets.

“The exports in China only constitute 30 percent. (For the) 70 percent, we are doing well,” he said.
Lacierda said the President had asked his economic team “to come up with a definitive package assistance plan by next week.”

Read more Scarborough Shoal news here.

Philippines, China talking again

The Philippines and China are talking again, and they are trying to work out a temporary solution to their dispute over Scarborough Shoal, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Friday.

In a text message to the Inquirer, Del Rosario said the two sides resumed consultations earlier last week to break the stalemate.

The good news from Del Rosario came as Malacañang reiterated that the government had no hand in the anti-China protests in Manila and other capital cities around the world on Friday.

Hong Lei, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, accused the Philippines on Friday of escalating tensions between the two countries by encouraging protests against China’s intrusion on Scarborough Shoal, a group of coral and rock formations in the South China Sea well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“It’s a wrong action that complicates and magnifies the issue,” Hong told Asian journalists in Beijing.
Hong said the Philippine side broke diplomatic contact “for a period of time” but Chinese officials kept in touch with their counterparts both in Beijing and in Manila, as China was committed to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.

Late on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Filipino and Chinese diplomats in Manila had resumed talks to break the deadlock over Scarborough Shoal.

The department did not disclose the negotiation points but going by China’s “requirements,” as Hong mentioned in his talk with journalists in Beijing, the consultations would lead to, at best, temporary agreements that would allow the two sides to disengage without losing face.

China’s demands, Hong said, were that Chinese public service ships at Scarborough Shoal—called Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines—not be disturbed, that Chinese fishing boats be left alone to go about their normal activities, and that Philippine vessels leave the shoal, which China calls Huangyan Island.

Face-off at the shoal
On Tuesday, the military reported that the number of Chinese vessels at Scarborough Shoal had increased to more than 30, from 14 last week.

China now has three big ships in the area, in addition to seven Chinese fishing vessels and 23 utility boats.
The Philippines has only two vessels in the lagoon, the BRP Edsa, a Coast Guard search-and-rescue ship, and the MCS 3001, a vessel belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Not this early
The Philippines will never agree to those demands, although Del Rosario did not say how Manila was responding. But he indicated that both sides did not expect to reach a lasting solution to the dispute this early.
“A diplomatic result ending the current impasse in Bajo de Masinloc, which we hope can be achieved, will at best be a temporary one,” Del Rosario said. “Ultimately, we will need an overall solution.”

The Philippines has already decided to go for that by going to international courts and forums to force China to recognize its sovereignty over parts of the South China Sea—called West Philippine Sea by Manila—within its exclusive economic zone.

Legal track
According to Del Rosario, the Philippine side is “moving forward with the legal track as a durable solution to our disputes in the West Philippine Sea.”

Stressing the need to “pursue a peaceful resolution” of the conflict with China, he said the DFA would follow a three-track approach: political, through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; legal, through United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) settlement; and diplomatic, through continuing consultations to defuse the current tensions at Scarborough Shoal.

Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, said the department would press ahead with the legal track. “As Secretary Del Rosario has said, the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos) would provide an impartial venue for ascertaining who between the Philippines and China has sovereign rights over the waters around Bajo de Masinloc and also around the Reed Bank area,” Hernandez said.

Rules-based approach

Del Rosario has repeatedly asserted that abiding by the rules set by the Unclos was the legitimate way of dealing with conflicting and overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement on the 30th anniversary of the 1982 signing of the Unclos by 159 UN member states in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Del Rosario said the convention “has never been more important to the Philippines than today when overlapping maritime claims threaten as never before the peace and prosperity in our part of the world.”

“The Philippines believes that the rules-based approach in Unclos, together with the norms in the UN Charter and international law, are the way forward in addressing in a just, peaceful and lasting manner the maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea,” Del Rosario said.

Great equalizer
Scarborough Shoal is located 220 kilometers west of Zambales, but China insists it is Chinese territory even though the nearest Chinese landmass is more than 500 kilometers away.

Last week, Del Rosario said the Philippines would unilaterally bring the conflict to Itlos following Beijing’s rejection of Manila’s proposal for international arbitration.

In a text message from Washington, D.C., Del Rosario said the DFA was preparing for the presentation of the dispute to the Itlos.

The tribunal is based in Hamburg, Germany.

He pointed out that Chinese ships were “engaged in illegal activities in Bajo de Masinloc.”
“The whole world knows that China has myriad more ships and aircraft than the Philippines. At day’s end, however, we hope to demonstrate that international law would be the great equalizer,” he emphasized. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

China prepared for escalation of Philippine standoff

BEIJING—Chinese vice foreign minister Fu Ying said Beijing was fully ready for an escalation of a drawn-out maritime standoff with the Philippines, as a tense row over a disputed shoal continues.

“The Chinese side has… made all preparations to respond to any escalation of the situation by the Philippine side,” she told a Philippine diplomat in Beijing Monday, according to a statement posted on the foreign ministry website Tuesday.

The two countries have been locked in a territorial row over the disputed Scarborough Shoal — or Huangyan island in Chinese — in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) for one month, with both sides sending ships to the area in a tense standoff.

It is one of the most high-profile flare-ups in recent years between the two countries over their competing territorial claims to parts of the West Philippine Sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
The row erupted on April 8 when Chinese vessels blocked a Philippine warship from arresting crews of Chinese fishing boats off the shoal, which both countries claim as their own.

Currently, four Chinese surveillance ships and 10 fishing boats have anchored off the disputed shoal, facing off with two Philippine coast guard ships and a fisheries bureau vessel.

On Monday, Fu summoned Alex Chua, charge d’affaires at the Philippine embassy in China, to make a “serious representation” over the situation, according to the statement.

“It is obvious that the Philippine side has not realized that it is making serious mistakes and instead is stepping up efforts to escalate tensions,” she told him.

Originally posted at 01:36 pm | Tuesday, May 08,  2012
More Scarborough Shoal news here.

What’s in a name? Scarborough, Panatag or Bajo de Masinloc?

Should the Philippines call the shoal by its local name or should it refer to it by its international name since its dispute with China is an international controversy?

Manila has three names for it: Scarborough Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc. Zambales fishermen call it simply as Karburo.

China has only one name for it, Huangyan Island, and uses this name even for international communication.
The shoal’s international name is Scarborough Shoal, which international news wire services and the Philippines’ major newspapers use.

Asked about it in an interview on dzRB radio yesterday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said both the government and the press used Scarborough Shoal, the “more familiar name” that appears on world maps.

She noted, however, that the shoal is also called Panatag Shoal, the name she prefers to use.
But the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has of late been referring to the shoal as Bajo de Masinloc, which, according to Valte, is the shoal’s “legal” or “formal” name.

“You know, I’m not aware if we have a preference,” Valte said. “For us in the communication group, it’s what is most understandable,” she said.

Which is?

Valte said she would ask her superiors whether the government had a preferred name for the shoal.
But the press can decide how to call the shoal, Valte said, citing as an example the wide use in the press of West Philippine Sea as a reference to the South China Sea.

For nearly three weeks now, Chinese maritime ships are facing off with Philippine civilian vessels at Scarborough Shoal as China and the Philippines stand firm on their rival claims to the group of rock formations 124 nautical miles (220 kilometers) west of Zambales province. That is well within the Philippines’ 330-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but China ignores it, insisting on its claim to all of the South China Sea.

The Senate opened an inquiry into the standoff on Friday, and yesterday Malacañang thanked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for calling on the nation to rally behind President Aquino in asserting the Philippines’ sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.

“We appreciate that statement from the Senate President,” Valte said.

More  Scarborough Shoal news here.

9 Chinese boats leave Scarborough shoal

Eight Chinese fishing boats and a surveillance ship involved in a standoff with the Philippines left the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Friday, easing tensions between China and the Philippines.

But the tensions spiked again Saturday afternoon after China sent back a surveillance vessel to the shoal and a Chinese aircraft flew over a Philippine Coast Guard vessel facing off a Chinese ship in the area.

The Chinese fly-by Saturday afternoon may have been the response to the Philippines’ surveillance fly-by made in the morning, the Inquirer has learned from a highly placed official who spoke to the Inquirer on condition he not be named.

Hours after reporting that all but one Chinese vessel had left the waters off Scarborough Shoal by Friday, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said one of the larger vessels later returned.

The vessel’s return boosted the Chinese presence to two vessels, while a Chinese aircraft also arrived and made fly-bys above a Philippine Coast Guard vessel stationed in the area, Del Rosario said.

A Chinese vessel also harassed a Philippine-registered vessel conducting a scientific survey, Del Rosario said without elaborating.

The Philippine vessel reportedly had nine French nationals aboard doing archaeological surveys of the waters in the area.

Del Rosario said the latest developments came despite his agreement with Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing not to take any action that would escalate tensions in the area. “It appears that there is an element that is lacking in our negotiations,” he said in a written statement to reporters after receiving an updated report from the Coast Guard.

It was unclear Saturday night why China sent back the civilian ship to Scarborough. The ship’s return brought the number of vessels in the shoal to three, from two earlier in the day: the BRP Pampanga and one Chinese surveillance craft.

The departure of the Chinese fishing boats greatly eased the tensions on Saturday. The Philippines, however, failed to confiscate the Chinese boats’ illegal harvest of giant clams, corals and sharks.

Del Rosario called the Chinese getaway “regrettable.”

PH flag asserts sovereignty
But the commander of the Philippine Navy, Rear Adm. Alexander Pama, considered keeping the Philippine flag flying in the area more significant than confiscating the Chinese’s illegal catch. The flag’s flying there signified that the Philippines was asserting its sovereignty in the disputed waters, Pama said.

Earlier Saturday, Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, the military commander in northern Luzon, said that apparently the Chinese pullouts were “the result of the negotiations by our foreign department with their Chinese counterparts.”

But Del Rosario said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier Saturday that his meeting with Ma on Friday night produced no clear agreement on the fishing boats’ departure.

He said he had told Ma that the Philippines was willing to allow the boats to return to China but only after confiscating their illegal catch.

“There was no clear agreement, as Ambassador Ma asserted that Chinese fishing vessels would be subject to inspection by their own authorities,” Del Rosario said.

Pullout during negotiation
“We later learned that all the Chinese fishing vessels had left the lagoon, a development [we had been working for] except for our not being able to confiscate their illegal harvest pursuant to the Fisheries Code, which was regrettable,” Del Rosario said.

The military said the pullout began Friday, as Philippine and Chinese diplomats negotiated a resolution of the standoff that began Sunday with the interception of Chinese boats found illegally fishing at Scarborough Shoal.

The shoal is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone but China insists it is part of its territory.

Crossed by major shipping lanes, the area is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves as well as fish stocks and other commercially attractive marine life.

The tensions began on Sunday when the Philippines sent its largest warship, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a US Hamilton-class cutter, to the shoal to stop the Chinese boats from further removing marine life in the shoal.

China responded by sending two surveillance vessels, which blocked the path of the Philippine warship to prevent the arrest of the Chinese fishers.

Diplomatic negotiations throughout the week led to the departures of one Chinese surveillance vessel and the Gregorio del Pilar on Thursday.

Philippine officials said the cutter left only to restock and refuel. It was replaced at the shoal by a Coast Guard search-and-rescue vessel, the BRP Pampanga, while a third Chinese surveillance craft took the place of the one that pulled out.

As negotiations continued on Friday, the Chinese fishing boats began to leave the shoal.

“At 12 noon [on Friday, seven Chinese vessels, including a marine survey vessel called Zhungguo Haijan 75, left,” Lieutenant General Alcantara told reporters.

“Then at 6 or 7 p.m., five Chinese fishing vessels left, including the Chinese fisheries law enforcement command vessel, pulled out of the site,” he said.

As for the illegally harvested giant clams, coral and baby sharks that Philippine authorities had found on the Chinese fishing boats, Alcantara said the Chinese left carrying them.

“Apparently, as far as I know, they took it with them,” Alcantara said. “I have no direct information, but it could be part of the negotiations.”

Good development
Alcantara said the pullouts on both sides helped ease tensions. “Of course, this is [a good development] and it is our wish that this be resolved peacefully.”

But Del Rosario said his meeting with Ma on Friday night ended in a “stalemate.” He said both countries demanded that the other’s vessels be the first to leave the shoal.

By that time, only the Coast Guard’s BRP Pampanga was facing off the two Chinese surveillance vessels, which were covering eight Chinese fishing boats.

Apparently, the Chinese vessels were pulling out even as he and Ma were talking.


‘Years of Friendly  Exchanges’
Del Rosario said he and the Chinese ambassador had been trying to reach an understanding in the spirit of the “Years of Friendly Exchanges” launched in Beijing on April 11 and in Manila on March 20.

He said the Philippines would continue to monitor the situation in coordination with other governmental agencies.

Del Rosario is leaving today (Sunday) for the United States to campaign for Justice Florentino Feliciano, the Philippine candidate to the International Court of Justice.

He said other DFA officials would replace him in the negotiations with China.

On Friday, he said he and Ma agreed to set aside diplomatic protests in order to ease tensions over the standoff. But that did not mean the two countries were withdrawing their protests.

Alcantara said on Saturday that the military would not be complacent. “We’re always prepared. This is not their first incursion,” he said. “Our Navy and Coast Guard are always patrolling these waters to take care of our interests in these parts.”

China claims all of the South China Sea, even waters up to the coasts of other countries in the region, are Chinese territory.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the waters as their own. With reports from AP and AFP