An Analysis on the “Data Gathering” on the Highly Disputed Spratly Islands

By Virgil B. Vallecera

“When Japan renounced their sovereignty over the Spratly islands in the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, there was a relinquishment of the right to the islands without any special beneficiary. Therefore, argue the Philippines, the islands became res nullius and available for annexation. Philippine businessman Tomas Cloma did exactly that in 1956.”

Long and lousy, I know. But this is not the real point of this story.

It’s been awhile since the Spratlys reached the headlines. Long and lousy, indeed, was the topic about. The claims over the islands are still up in the air and lying dormant.

Until, a trilateral agreement was signed by the Philippines, China, and Vietnam. Alas! The debate is back on its feet, this time with a whole lot of national and territorial integrity at stake.

However, this issue did not come out of the shell on its own. As a matter of fact, it came out from a humungous clam of controversies: The long and lousy NBN-ZTE fiasco. How come?

It’s already an open secret that the line between good and bad intentions is blurred with self-interest of the few. When the former Philippine National Oil Company president Eduardo Mañalac signed in behalf of the Philippines the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking agreement, government critics claimed their was a “sellout” of the Philippine’s claim over the disputed Spratly Islands. Since by allowing the other claimants to have a “joint data gathering” of the islands means softening the potential Philippine claim; hence, a treasonous offense against the aged-old national interest of territorial acquisition.

Senate President Franklin Drilon's then revealed that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo committed treason in signing an agreement with China and Vietnam allowing to explore resources in the Philippines under the guise of "seismic data gathering."

What’s more tricky about the issue is that the "data gathering," to be conducted in the Spratlys and offshore Palawan, is a cover up for the hunt for oil, which those places are believed to hold rich deposits of; as a matter of fact, the Spartlys has the 4^th largest oil depot in the world!

What's new in Drilon's revelation is that Merceditas Gutierrez, GMA's own legal counsel and current Tanodbayan, consulted him about it, worried that it constituted treason. The Philippine Ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon even told Drilon that the United States was "pissed off" by the trilateral deal.

Call it high treason then!

More so, government critics pointed out that this is a sellout of the Filipinos' birthright for a pot of gold in Chinesep loans for the NorthRail, SouthRail and, beats me, the unthinkable NBN projects. Unfortunately, that pot of gold does not go to the hungry and homeless Filipinos, it goes to the First Couple and their favored few.

It then appears that the sellout over the “data gathering” in the Spratlys is because the JMSU accord triggered nearly $2 billion in official development assistance loans from China to the Philippines, with the NBN project among the beneficiaries!

Then call it bribery!

It is unfortunate that despite all the controversies that China has been involved in the Philippines, it still does not stop earmarking bribe money to a long and lousy crippled government. Now, I found commendable Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s condemnation that China is indeed the creator of corruption in the civilized society.