‘Start Reed Bank search’
When we lose Malampaya, Luzon may have 12-14 hours of daily brownouts, and it would be devastating to the economy.
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When we lose Malampaya, Luzon may have 12-14 hours of daily brownouts, and it would be devastating to the economy.
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio stressed the need for the government to start exploring for gas in the Reed Bank, which is part of the contested West Philippine Sea.
In a television interview on Saturday, Carpio warned that the Philippines direly needs a new gas source as the Malampaya natural gas field is running out.
Carpio said Luzon may experience 12 to 14 hours of daily brownouts once the natural gas flow stops.
The Philippines has been extracting gas from the Malampaya facility since its operations started in the early 2000s.
"'When we lose Malampaya, Luzon may have 12-14 hours of daily brownouts, and it would be devastating to the economy. So, it becomes our biggest problem if the energy is depleted, everything will stop," Carpio said.
"Factories and offices will close because they cannot maintain regular hours due to the power shortage. So, I think this is critical," he added.
Carpio urged the government to survey Reed Bank before the end of this year.
"Because really, if we don't do a survey, it will take four years at the minimum to develop the gas field," Carpio said.
He said the government should connect a pipeline from Reed Bank to the Malampaya facility so the country can exploit the costly structure.
The Reed Bank is an energy-rich area northeast of the Spratlys Islands in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
China, however, claims the area under its expansive nine-dash line historic claim.
Recent maritime patrols by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard revealed that the Chinese Coast Guard and other Chinese fishing vessels have been swarming the area to assert their sovereign rights over the waters.
In 2016, The Hague Tribunal invalidated Beijing's nine-dash line doctrine over the entire South China Sea following an arbitration case filed by the Philippine government on 22 January 2013.
The tribunal ruled that China's nine-dash line unilaterally encroached on territories of other member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Secure economic benefit
"It is important that we get its economic benefit. Once we get the gas, even if China will not recognize the arbitral award and even if they say, 'it's ours' — so long as we get the gas, that's a victory, and that's the bottom line," Carpio said.
"That's the situation in Malaysia. Even if China did not recognize the Malaysian claim over the area, but they got the gas, so they remained quiet. The same with Indonesia. The bottom line is if we get the gas in the Reed Bank, it's okay. Even if China asserts it is illegal and unlawful because the bottom line is that the exclusive economic zone is ours. We don't need the consent of China to get the gas," he added.
Carpio pointed to the need for the government to establish a credible defense posture over its territory.
"The first obligation and duty of the state is to maintain a credible self-defense. That's what Malaysia and Indonesia are doing now," he said.
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