Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Cuenco bill on RP boundary stalled by Malacañang’s move to change proposal
CEBU City south district Rep. Antonio Cuenco’s Baselines Bill hit a snag just before the third and final reading after Malacañang insisted on altering his original proposal.
Cuenco is pushing for the inclusion of the Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the Spratlys in the Philippines’ territorial jurisdiction, which Malacañang officials rejected reportedly because of a possible backlash on diplomatic relations.
China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei are also claiming ownership of the KIG, which is composed of some 90 small islands.
Members of the House agreed to withhold approval of House Bill (HB) 3216 until the Legislative-Executive Advisory Council meets to discuss the matter later this month.
HB 3216 defines the country’s archipelagic baselines or territorial jurisdiction to include the KIG and the Scarborough Shoal in the Spratlys.
Cuenco, House committee on foreign affairs chairman, asked the Lower House to approve the bill immediately, saying that it does not mean to rile any country that has claims over the islands that the Philippines also claims.
“We will weaken our claim over these islands if we don’t include it in the Baselines Bill. This is our basic disagreement with the Executive Department. They don’t want it to be included because some of the islands are occupied by Vietnam and China and they fear the diplomatic repercussions of our move,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
In a privilege speech delivered in Congress last Monday night, Cuenco said he respects the position of the Executive Department on the bill, but he pointed out that it was already approved on second reading last December.
On the advice of House Speaker Prospero Nograles, Congress shelved the bill until members can hear the views of the Senate and Malacañang officials to come up with a consensus.
The bill will be tackled during the meeting of the Ledac, which is composed of Cabinet members and key Lower House and Senate personalities.
Cuenco warned that aborting the approval of the bill “would create a terrible precedent that could cause havoc to the proceedings of the House.”
“It would even lend credence to the charge that the House of Representatives caved in to external pressures,” he said during his privilege speech.
The Baselines Bill was first proposed 15 years ago during the Eighth Congress.
To date, the Philippines still does not have any law protecting its territorial jurisdiction and boundaries.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas gave the Philippine Government until May 2009 to come up with such boundaries. (LCR)
