Release of documents on oil deal with China ‘premature,’ says Palace

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday, November 20, declared as “premature” the call of two opposition senators to release the draft oil and gas exploration agreement between the Philippines and China before its signing.

"Any demand for a release of documents pertaining thereto at this time, however, is premature and could be prejudicial to our country's interests given that parties have yet to ink any agreement on the matter," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement Tuesday morning.

On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's two-day visit to Manila, Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Francis Pangilinan filed Senate Resolution 943 on Monday, November 19, calling for the release of the draft joint maritime oil and gas exploration deal before the Philippine government formally signs the agreement with its Chinese counterpart.

In the resolution, the two senators claimed that China has already produced a draft agreement titled "Framework Agreement on Joint Maritime Oil and Gas Exploration between China and the Philippines."

But Panelo said the senate is free to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation "on a potential deal on oil and gas exploration with China."

The supposed Chinese draft deal proposed the creation of a committee and working group, composed of Chinese and Filipinos, which will operate as the "working mechanisms" for the joint oil and gas exploration between the two nations.

The two lawmakers argued that the signing of the Chinese draft is a violation of the 1987 Constitution because "the Philippines will lose its exclusive sovereignty rights over its natural resources."

Citing the July 12, 2016 ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitrarion, Trillanes and Pangilinan stressed that the Philippines has the sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines is one of the Asian nations claiming portions of the hotly-contested South China Sea, but China claims nearly the entire disputed sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea.

Panelo said the executive branch acknowledged the Senate as an independent co-equal branch of government and thus welcomed "whatever congressional or legislative action its members may want to undertake."

He, however, guaranteed that any agreements the Duterte government will enter into with foreign nations would pass the "judicial scrutiny."

"We assure that any agreement that we will enter into with a foreign government or entity would stand the judicial scrutiny of both countries and its constitutionality, if challenged, would be upheld," the Palace official said.

"We respect the Senate as an independent co-equal branch of government and welcome whatever congressional or legislative action its members may want to undertake. In the same manner, we likewise expect respect from them by allowing us to do our job as we perform activities which are rightfully within the scope of executive faculty," he added. (SunStar Philippines)

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