Mooted South China Sea Oil Deal With China Draws Fire In Manila

“That's something we've been talking about for a great deal, but territorial disputes are getting in the way of that,” Marcos told Bloomberg in an interview.

But Chel Diokno, an opposition member of the House of Representatives, questioned the seemingly secretive negotiations, which he said breed suspicion.

“Transparency should be a governing principle in our foreign and energy policies. Any agreement involving our natural resources is a public matter,” he told a news conference marking the country's Day of Valor which honors World War II veterans.

“The Filipino people have the right to know the terms, conditions and concessions being negotiated with China,” Diokno said.

He said he would spearhead calls in the House committee overseeing developments in the sea region to“exercise oversight” of the oil negotiations to ensure transparency and verify that they do not contravene the Constitution.

Another House member, Perci Cendana, argued that any negotiations with China over oil would amount to rewarding its“bad behavior” – alluding to increasing harassment by the China Coast Guard (CCG) against their Filipino counterparts patrolling the West Philippine Sea, the parts of the South China Sea within Manila's exclusive economic zone.

“We are sending the wrong message and encouraging more powerful countries to escalate disputes to extract concessions. Over time, this erodes the rules-based order in the region,” Cendana said.

“Instead of demanding compliance with international law, we are adjusting to China's violations. Real cooperation must be based on respect for the law, not submission to aggression,” he said.

“We should pursue energy security in ways that do not validate coercion and undermine our sovereignty. We cannot reward bad behavior and expect good outcomes. What we tolerate today, we will surely invite tomorrow,” Cendana said.

Stratbase Institute, a Manila-based independent think tank that closely follows the dispute, cautioned earlier this week against a potential oil deal, warning that Beijing has repeatedly demonstrated it is neither“a reliable partner nor a responsible actor.”

It called on Manila to reject the deal outright, saying that Beijing has always negotiated on its own terms and has consistently“acted in bad faith” on the South China Sea.

“A state that persistently disregards international law and violates Philippine sovereign

rights cannot be expected to honor any agreement. Entering into such a partnership would expose the country to unnecessary risk,” Stratbase warned in a statement.

Instead, it called on the government to fully implement Marcos' Executive Order No. 111, which adopted Philippine names for 131 features of the Kalayaan Group of Islands in Palawan province, as an exercise of the country's sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.