PHL to claimant-countries: Don't provoke each other

Malacañang, reaffirming its commitment to resolve the Spratlys issue in a peaceful and diplomatic manner, urged countries claiming jurisdiction over the disputed islands to refrain from issuing provocative statements. "We are committed to dialogue with other claimants. We call on all parties to refrain from inflammatory statements that would make it more difficult to reach a mutually agreeable solution," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a press briefing on Friday. During the same press briefing, Lacierda said there is no need yet to ask for help of outside forces, the Unites States for example, as suggested by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. "I strongly believe that in our discussions with China, that they are very, very hopeful for a peaceful resolution and this could be done diplomatically," Lacierda said. Aside from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territories in South China Sea, which covers an important shipping route and is thought to hold untapped oil and gas reserves. 'Stop exploration activities' On Thursday, China asked the other claimants, including the Philippines, to stop oil exploration activities in the disputed region. Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao said conducting unilateral exploration in the Spratlys Islands is considered a violation of China’s territorial sovereignty. "We’re calling on all parties to stop searching the possibility of exploiting resources in this area where China has claims," Liu said. "If these countries want to do so, you can talk to the Chinese about the possibility of having a joint cooperation development and exploitation of the natural resources in this area." A Reuters report further said that on late Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry accused Vietnam of gravely violating its sovereignty and endangering Chinese sailors doing a seismic surveys in the South China Sea. The Philippines had earlier accused China of intrusion when some of its vessels were spotted last month near the Reed Bank and Amy Douglas Bank, which are located west of Palawan province. In return, China scolded the Philippines for "issuing irresponsible comments that are inconsistent with facts." 'Cue from DFA, DND' Asked what the Philippines would do to protect its claims over Reed Bank, Lacierda said Malacañang would let the Foreign Affairs and Defense Departments do their job. "Nag-usap kami noong security cluster meeting. We will take our cue from the DFA, but with respect to the measures being taken to protect our seas, we will leave that to the DND to make those announcements because I’m not technically capable of providing details of what measures our country or the DND is doing," he said. He insisted that despite the previous statements issued by both the Philppines and China, the relationship between the two countries remains good. "Maganda po ang ating relasyon sa bansang China. Patuloy pa rin ang paniniwala ng bansang China at Pilinas na magkakaroon ng kaayusan through dialogue. We believe in a multilateral approach on all the disputed areas so kasama po lahat ng claimants ng South China Sea," he said. — RSJ/HS, GMA News