IN a roundtable at The Manila Times and subsequently in interviews with the Philippine Daily Inquirer the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to the Philippines, Madam Ma Keqing, has expressed the positive notion that her country and ours must focus on what can be done in collaboration with each other—despite territorial and sovereignty disputes.

We wholeheartedly agree with her.

In yesterday’s Inquirer the story “China open to joint oil dev’t in Recto Bank” the Chinese ambassador’s suggestions were repeated. Reactions were reported of the leading Filipino businessmen-industrialists who have been involved in talks with Chinese companies (these are of course state-owned corporations) about exploration in the Spratlys, particularly Recto Bank.

The Inquirer report quoted Manuel V. Pangilinan who said in a text message that he “concurred with the views of [Ambassador] Ma to explore Recto Bank. But he said he must face the ‘political reality’ involved in any Recto Bank find.

The Inquirer quoted Pangilinan as saying in the text message: “I must say that the Chinese position, as articulated by the current Chinese Ambassador Ma and by [its] past ambassadors, has, as far as I know, been consistent in respect of the dual sovereignty or commercial aspects of the potential oil and gas resources in the West Philippine Sea. That’s the same stance CNOOC conveyed to us last year.” CNOOC is the Chinese corporation Pangilinan’s group was negotiating with.

Pangilinan correctly said businessmen like him could only “respond appropriately to one side of that [political-commercial] duality—the commercial one. That’s a course we would like to pursue keenly, purely as a commercial matter. After all, if there is nothing out there under the seas, what is there to quibble and quarrel about?”

Pangilinan added: “We appreciate that we cannot abstract from the political realities obtaining and, since we’re only a contractor to—not owner of—those potential resources, we must respect and work within the political guidelines and rules.”

Another Filipino businessman-industrialist, Enrique Razon, chairman of International Container Terminal Services Inc., told the Inquirer that reaching a “commercial solution” first between the Philippines and China was possible while the territorial dispute remained unresolved.

Pangilinan and Razon jointly hold the contract granted by the Philippine state to embark on oil exploration activities in the Recto Bank.

The bank is within the 330-kilometer Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Pangilinan was keen to enter into a partnership with China but not Razon.

Perhaps Razon wants partners other than China.

Let’s have more than China as joint venture partners
We in The Times believe the joint venture partners should be, as in the projects begun during the administration of former president Gloria Arroyo, China and Vietnam. But we believe there should be other foreign partners—including all the claimants and other Western corporations.

Even if the way were cleared for joint development, the big hurdle would be how profit is to be shared. President Aquino, yesterday’s Inquirer report says, “is adamant that all royalties go to the Philippines because Recto Bank is clearly inside the Philippine EEZ, being 150 km off Palawan while Hainan, the nearest Chinese territory, is 570 km away.”

Meanwhile, it must be remember that last December, the Philippines temporarily stopped awarding oil and natural gas exploration contracts in the South China Sea because of territorial disputes with China and other neighbors. This was announced on December 11 by Philippine Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The process is on hold until the Department of Foreign Affairs gives its approval.

Without rejecting moves for our country to have a more credible defense capability, we believe—as we said in this space last year— that “Economics, not geopolitics, should define bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing.”

Since coming to power, President Benigno Aquino 3rd has antagonized China with what Beijing perceives are unnecessarily provocative statements about disputed claims in the Spratlys. So instead of ties between partners, bilateral relations today are defined largely by the issues relating to disputes. Happily, the dire relationship has brightened a lot in the past months. Perhaps this is a result of Ambassador Ma’s positive approach and the equally pleasant response of our Department of Foreign Affairs.

US and China are our strategic partners
The problem is that the the United States and China, the two top global powers, are competing for influence in the Asia Pacific – and the Philippines can ill afford to be caught in between. The US has staked its claim in the region, saying that freedom of navigation was in its national interest. China, meanwhile, aims to reclaim the lost glory of its 5,000-year-old society.

Our leaders should not forget that both the US and China are our strategic partners. In other words, we should be friends with both. While it is prudent to be vigilant against hegemonic tendencies of an up and coming superpower, the Philippines should also strive to take advantage of China’s economic fortune.