President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) will prevail in any raised joint exploration and development of resources in the South China Sea (SCS). 

Marcos was responding to the recent announcement of China’s national oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) that it made an oilfield discovery with a volume of 100 million tons in the SCS.

When asked if he is eyeing the revival of negotiations for a joint exploration deal with China after the reported oil discovery, the President emphasized that the Philippines will be bound by its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and territorial jurisdiction in the WPS. 

“Well, look, once again, the sovereignty and the sovereign rights and our territorial jurisdiction remain the key in all of these talks, and we cannot, we cannot at any point, somehow compromise the territorial integrity of the Philippines,” Marcos told reported in an interview with reporters in Prague, Czech Republic on Friday night (Manila time).

Marcos assured the public that the country’s sovereign rights to the portion of SCS would prevail. 

“So that is going to be the main principle behind any kind of talks that we might have. So, depending on areas that we are talking about, that will come into play. So let me leave it at that. That is the guiding principle that I’m following whenever it comes to all of these things,” he said. 

On 8 March, the CNOOC said it had found a new reserve in the Kaiping South Oilfied, 300 kilometers off the coast of Guangdong province in the south of China, through its continued exploration.

It added that the volume of the oilfield reached 102 million tons of oil equivalent.

The CNOOC also said the exploratory well has been tested to produce an average of approximately 7,680 barrels of crude oil and 0.52 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. 

On the other hand, Marcos denied the Philippines was trying to provoke tension in the WPS. 

On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called on the Philippines to “stop misleading the international community and using the SCS issue to instigate disputes.”

Marcos lamented he is not aware of any instance when the Philippines “has instigated anything, at any point, both verbally, or militarily, or diplomatically.”

“We did not begin all of these problems. All of these commotions were not caused by the Philippines. So, I don’t know what they are referring to,” he said. 

China has been accusing the Philippines of heightening the tension in the WPS by conducting a series of military exercises with the United States. 

The Philippines defended its engagements with the US, noting that the continued collaboration of both countries was part of the Mutual Defense Treaty signed on 30 August 1951. 

The treaty has eight articles and requires both nations to support each other if another country attacks the Philippines or the US.