July 20, 2012
Erlinda F Basilio
The Nation
Guest column
The non-issuance of the customary joint communiqué after the 45th
Asean Ministerial Meeting generated considerable reaction and comment
because it was unprecedented in Asean’s 45 years of existence.
However, many of those reactions/comments were based on erroneous information. It is therefore essential to lay down the facts.
1 Fiction: “There was no joint communiqué because
Asean failed to agree on the code of conduct on the South China Sea.
Never before have our relations in the regional association been as
strained as they are today – and much of the blame can be put on the
Philippine side.”
Fact: Asean had already agreed on the key elements
of the proposed code of conduct on the South China Sea for discussion
with China. The Philippines was successful in having its suggested main
elements included to give the code the substance it requires.
The strain being felt by Asean is not attributable to the Philippines but it was reportedly due to the failure of the Asean chair (Cambodia) to gain a consensus.
2 Fiction: “The Philippine foreign minister
denounced Chinese ‘duplicity’ and ‘intimidation’ in the South China Sea,
souring the mood at the meeting designed to soothe tensions.”
Fact: The “souring of the mood” was attributed by everyone who was there to the failure
of Asean to issue a joint communiqué, resulting from the Asean chair’s
firm position not to reflect the recent developments in the South China
Sea despite the view of the majority of the member states that these
developments impinge on the overall security of the region.
On the reference to “duplicity and intimidation”, the Philippines
forged an agreement with a neighbouring country for the simultaneous
pullout of all vessels inside the Scarborough Shoal, which we undertook
in good faith on June 4.
Yet, to this day, the neighbouring country has not
fulfilled its obligations under the agreement and has maintained its
ships inside and outside the shoal, as well as its barrier, in its aim
to establish effective control and jurisdiction in the shoal and
surrounding waters.
3 Fiction: “The Philippines unilaterally escalated
the rhetoric on the matter of contested islets and shoals – and then
invoked the entire Asean community as a party to the confrontation.”
Fact: The Philippines has approached the issue with
patience and tolerance as we endeavour to avail ourselves of all
peaceful means to resolve it within the rule of law. However, the neighbouring country decided to escalate tensions
with the deployment of numerous vessels, as high as 96 at one point,
against our one vessel. The Philippines could not perpetually remain
mute on the brazen acts of infringement on its territory and
intimidation by a powerful country.
4 Fiction: “Public statements emanating from Manila did not benefit from careful, quiet consultations with regional partners.”
Fact: As early as 2010, the Philippines has
conducted bilateral consultations with its Asean partners on the issue
of competing claims in the West Philippine Sea. In 2011, it proposed a
framework for resolving the dispute within the Asean forum. This process
of consultation led to the Asean decision to refer the Philippine
proposal to Asean’s maritime legal experts.
5 Fiction: “In the view of some of our neighbours,
Manila failed to do the patient work of consensus-building necessary for
the association to take an explicit and common position on a complex
territorial issue.”
Fact: Precisely mindful of Asean’s consensus-based
decision-making process, the Philippines has been in continuous
consultations with its Asean partners resulting in the Asean senior
officials drafting of an “Asean Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the
Situation in Scarborough Shoal” on May 24.
On May 25, our Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario wrote to
the Asean chair requesting that such a statement be referred to all
Asean foreign ministers for their consideration. Several foreign
ministers endorsed the issuance of such a statement.
At the 45th Asean Ministerial Meeting, the text of the proposed joint
communiqué’s item/subhead on the “South China Sea” was drafted by the
Asean foreign ministers, and several revisions were proposed to make the
text acceptable to all.
However, the Cambodian chair consistently rejected any proposed text that mentioned Scarborough Shoal.
6 Fiction: “Phnom Penh’s strong position against the
Philippine position in Asean is quietly shared by Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore and Brunei.”
Fact: As explained in Item No 5, this view of the Philippines was strongly supported by many countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Even the Asean secretary general expressed support for it.
7 Fiction: “When the ministerial meeting failed to
issue a communiqué, the Philippine side bitterly accused Cambodia of,
well, doing Beijing’s bidding.”
Fact: We did not accuse Cambodia of doing Beijing’s bidding, choosing to remain silent; other quarters preferred not to be silent.
8 Fiction: “Our strategy is in disarray. After the
embarrassing outcome of the Phnom Penh meetings, we definitely have no
Asean card to play in the confrontational path we chose to take against
China.”
Fact: The Philippines has a three-track approach to
advance its interests in the West Philippine Sea -political, diplomatic
and legal. Asean is part of the political track.
The Philippines was able to gain the support of the majority of Asean
member states as well as that of the Asean secretariat on the need to
mention Scarborough Shoal in the proposed joint communique.
9 Fiction: “Our new ambassador to Beijing intimated
that one of the difficulties in her assignment is a view among her
superiors that sees China as an enemy.”
Fact: This clearly misquotes what has been written.
The mandate of the Department of Foreign Affairs is to reaffirm that we
are seeking positive relations with China as a friend and partner and
that the bilateral agenda should be vigorously pursued while abstracting
contentious issues that should be dealt with separately.
10 Fiction: “The Philippine foreign minister walked out of the meeting in digust.”
Fact: Secretary Del Rosario stayed on to finish the
meeting and was steadfast in promoting and defending the Philippine
national interest.
In fact, even when his microphone went silent as he first began to
speak on the Scarborough Shoal issue, Secretary Del Rosario strongly
articulated the Philippine position and proceeded to conclude his
remarks.
Erlinda F Basilio is an under-secretary for the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs.
