FORMER Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario yesterday said President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must appoint “upright and patriotic” officials to the Department of Energy and the Department of Foreign Affairs, who will work not only to find energy sources in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in the South China Sea but also uphold the country’s sovereign rights in the area.
Del Rosario said government should remain steadfast in upholding its sovereign rights in the WPS based on a 2016 of the Permanent Court of Arbitration while find new sources of energy.
“Given that a major source of our country’s energy, the Malampaya gas field, will run out of gas in the next few years, we need new energy sources to support the livelihood of our countrymen. It must be said that our country cannot afford to import most of our energy requirements from other countries,” he said.
Del Rosario was foreign affairs chief in 2013 when the Aquino administration filed the historic case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in the Netherlands, challenging China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea to include the WPS.
In July 2016, or less than two months into the Duterte administration, the arbitral tribunal ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines, saying major elements in China’s claim, including its “nine-dash line,” were unlawful.
China has been refusing to recognize the ruling but has established very friendly relations with outgoing President Duterte.
Del Rosario made the call to the incoming Marcos administration after government, through Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr, announced last week the termination of the oil and gas exploration talks with Beijing, more than three years after the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on oil and gas development between the two countries.
The $4.5-billion Malampaya project in Palawan started operations in 2001 and supplies a fifth of the country’s total energy requirements.
However, the Department of Energy said the remaining 858, 834 million standard cubic feet of estimated reserves in Malampaya will completely run out by the first quarter of 2027.
With these challenges, Del Rosario said, the energy and foreign affairs departments of the new administration should be manned not only by patriotic but also competent individuals.
“We respectfully submit that the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has a challenging task ahead: To appoint upright and patriotic officials in energy and foreign affairs who have the talent and skills to find ways to secure new energy sources needed by our country, while steadfastly upholding our sovereign rights in the WPS, as guaranteed by international law and our Constitution,” he added.
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio earlier called on the government to assert the country’s sovereign rights in the WPS now more than ever as it has to begin looking for a substitute to the Malampaya gas field.
