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By Jomar Canlas, Reporter
Two legislators urged the House leadership to
elevate the debate on the controversial Spratly Islands to the
plenary, instead of sending a bill about that issue back to
committee.
Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon and Zambales Rep.
Milagros Magsaysay agree that questions surrounding the Spratlys
must be tackled on the floor, if lawmakers are to settle the issue
once and for all.
Biazon said he wants to take up the accusations
made about the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking signed by China,
Vietnam and the Philippines and the alleged link between that
agreement and Chinese loans to this country.
For her part, Magsaysay said House Bill 3216 or
Defining the Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippines is now on
third reading.
“It is unfair to refer it back to the
committee,” Magsaysay said. “It [the plenary] is the only venue
for non-members to raise our voices. Hence, it should be brought to
the floor.”
Neither Biazon nor Magsaysay is a member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the
panel handling initiatives about the Spratlys.
House Resolution 496 was filed recently by Bayan
Muna Party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, who was inquiring about delays
faced by House Bill 3216.
Casiño said he was told by Committee on Foreign
Affairs Vice-Chairman Orlando Fua that an official from the
Department of Foreign Affairs had called him about suspending the
passage of the bill, because it will affect treaties entered into by
the government with the Chinese. He added that Fua refused to name
of the department official he had talked to and to disclose details
about their conversation.
The Philippines has only up to May 2009 to file
its claim to the Kalayaan Island Group, which is in the disputed
Spratly Islands. The claim is to be submitted to the United Nations
Convention on the Law of Sea (Unclos).
There are six countries claiming the Spratlys in
part or in whole—China, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei
Darussalam and Malaysia.
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