Palace: ‘Spratly expert’ may head for China in ‘next few days’

An expert in the Spratly Islands may be sent to China “in the next few days" following the alleged harassment of a Philippine-sanctioned oil exploration vessel by Chinese patrollers in the Reed Bank area, a Malacañang official said Sunday. Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office secretary Ramon Carandang said the expert, identified in earlier reports as lawyer Henry Bensurto, may explain the Philippine position to Chinese officials. “I think if he is going to China it will happen in the next few days ... siguro ipapaliwanag niya ang legal and technical basis kung bakit natin sinasabi wala silang karapatan na pumasok sa western Palawan," Carandang said on government-run dzRB radio. (I think if he is going to China, it will happen in the next few days. He will likely explain the legal and technical bases on why we insist China had no right to enter that area in Western Palawan.) Bensurto is Secretary General of the Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs. The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest with China over the incident in the Reed Bank area, a disputed area in the South China Sea west of Palawan province. The protest involved Chinese Navy patrol boats allegedly harassing a Philippine-sanctioned oil exploration vessel. Carandang insisted the area where the incident occurred was outside the contested part of the Spratly Islands. “Hindi yan nangyari sa Spratlys, hindi yan nangyari sa contested area. Nangyari yan sa Reed Bank sa Western Palawan sa loob mismo ng teritoryo ng Pilipinas. Hindi ito kinu-question ng ibang bansa," he said. (It did not happen in the Spratlys or in the contested area. It happened in Reed Bank in Western Palawan, within Philippine territory. The other claimants to the Spratlys do not contest this.) A Coast Guard ship has been deployed to the Reed Bank to ensure that oil exploration there would not get disrupted again. — KBK, GMA News