PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he will look into the proposed joint exploration and development in the contested islands in the South China Sea of special envoy for intercultural dialogue Jose de Venecia Jr.
Duterte, who arrived in Davao City early Tuesday morning from his official visit to China, said he would review the pros and cons of three-way exploration efforts at the contested island.
"Let us see the wherewithal. Let us see if I will not get indebted. It has to be fair and it has to be balance. So if we can get something there, with no hassle at all, why not?" the President told reporters in a press conference after his week-long visit to Cambodia, Hong Kong, and China.
At the opening rites of the Belt and Road Forum in China on Sunday, De Venecia emphasized the possible economic gains from joint exploration for oil and gas deposits in the Spratlys, a group of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls in the South China Sea.
De Venecia cited that scientists have discovered "promising" prospects for joint exploration.
"[The] Philippines, China and Vietnam went so far as to venture on a three-way seismic survey that we helped initiate of the disputed areas in the Spratlys chain to assess the area’s potential for hydrocarbon exploration and development," he said.
"We must find ways and means to jointly develop the areas' hydrocarbons potential to help lessen our common dependence on distant petroleum sources in the Middle East," De Venecia added.
De Venecia made the same suggestion during the term of then president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo had signed a joint marine seismic undertaking with China and Vietnam upon De Venecia's recommendation.
The Spratlys are the subject of competing claims among the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Taiwan.
Duterte, since he assumed office, has moved to ease tensions with China by pushing for non-aggressive approach on the maritime dispute. (SunStar Philippines)