“Waive sovereignty claims, seek joint exploration” – JDV
WEST PHILIPPINE SEA CONFLICT
DESPITE the volatile situation, there is the potential for a peaceful settlement on the raging conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea.
This was aired by the former five-time Speaker of the House of Representatives Jose C. de Venecia Jr., during the Virtual Global Rally of Hope on the theme “Advancing the Cause of a Beleaguered Planet” on September 27.
De Venecia, presently the co-chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace and Special Envoy of President Rodrigo Duterte to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and for Intercultural Dialogue, proposed for all claimant nations to temporarily shelve the issue of sovereignty to pave the way for joint exploration and joint development of the disputed area’s resources.
This, he said, can transform the SCS from an area of conflict into a “landscape and seascape of small seaports, and oil pipelines”.
“Fishing villages and small tourism township could rapidly rise and the contested areas could become the untrammeled passageway for global shipping, carrying more than 50 percent of the seas freight of the world,” De Venecia said.
He pointed out that the idea of “win-win cooperation” of a pragmatic sharing of resources could help “build a model for lessening tensions and solving conflicts, and avoiding the possibility of war in Asia’s manifold and dangerous flashpoints”.
Rejecting prospect of a Cold War in the Asia and Pacific between U.S. and China,
De Venecia underscored that mutual accommodation must be found that gives the parties strategic reassurance and respect for their “core interest”.
“We declare we want no Cold War in the Asia Pacific. Nor do we wish any state in our Asian region or in any other region to play either the ‘American Card’ or the ‘China Card’ or the ‘Russian Card’. (Leonardo Micua)
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