Philippines could lose almost 50% of the Territory in continuing Panatag Shoal Stand-off

 

Losing almost 50% of Philippines Territory to China

It is another heart nauseating Monday to realize that we are in the BRINK of LOSING ALMOST HALF OF OUR PHILIPPINE TERRITORY TO CHINA for the continuing Standoff between the Philippines and China in our territory in Panatag Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) in Zambales Province.

Our Government is already out of option to solve the Stand-off so it's our turn Citizens of the Philippines to Stand for our country. If Government to government could not solve the issue, then I think WE people of the Philippines might.

I am a bit embarrassed also with the comments of Vietnamese in their Vietnamese websites saying "that we Filipinos" are "LOUSY COWARD" in protecting our Philippine territory that china won a control over the Panatag shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) without even a single outburst of bullets.

It is a very humiliating words of Vietnamese towards us but it seems that they are right for those who believe that Vietnamese are right but for those who believe that we are NOT coward, then step forward and prove it without initiating trouble but a peaceful unity to oust the Chinese occupancy in our territory.

It's already 2 areas in our country is are under control of China. 1 is in the Panganiban Reef or Mischief Reef of 75 Miles from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan and now the Panatag shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal).

My Fellow Citizens, we already lost our Dignity as "Filipino" because we could not defend our land. We need to step up forward for a rebound to be respected because a nation could NOT be called as a sovereign nation if it has no capability to defend its territory. Do we have a capability to defend our territory? YES we have millions of people to defend this land.

I am NOT calling for war here but calling the people to unite and let's have a brainstorming to form a peaceful strategy to drive away the invading china. We don't need to engage any war here because WAR is a GAME of losers but it's the only last options of a blind to bite and eat the mighty lion alive when pushed in a deadlock corner. We could not also afford to see any casualties while there is still a remaining strategy in which the United Nations could implement the International law and sanction the violating countries. Why don't we oust the United Nations' office in Manila if it is already rusted and will not function anymore? It is useless for them to be there if they created a law and they could not implement it.  

7,107 Islands with only few are occupied

I think the world, the neighboring countries, and WE Citizen of this country must have to understand that the Philippines is comprised of more than 7,100 Islands which many are not yet populated because it could not sustain life as many of those islands are out of fresh waters.

I hope also the invading neighbors MUST respect the fact that the Philippines of thousands of islands are not the same with the geographic structure of their country.

Their argument of "uninhabited islands" is WRONG because even in thousands of islands of different provinces in the Philippines, we still have few thousand of uninhabited islands because of the absence of fresh waters. Then does it mean that because we did not populate those islands in our different provinces then the neighboring countries have the rights to occupy and control them?

The case of the (Spratly Islands) Kalayaan Group of Islands in the Province of Palawan and the Panatag Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) of the Province of Zambales are common cases in the other provinces of the Philippines that many islands and islets remained uninhabited until this time because of the absence of  the fresh waters.

The issue of "Uninhabited Islands" is not applicable to the Philippines but "Proximity and 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone" is the most appropriate to apply.

2000 un-armed Explorer

I am now even thinking to form a legion of explorer for at least 2 thousand un-armed patriots to clear the Panatag Shoal.

If the Government to Government could not solve the problems then why don't we allow our locals of Zambales to Fish and to stay inside the Shoal, then clean the messed of the Chinese invaders and monitor them there?

Why the government thinks that it could only escalate further the situation if we will send or we will allow the civilians to go there and to fish there as their usual daily activities before china creates trouble in the area?

If we could have at least 2,000 un-armed people, do you think that there are soldiers will kill them? They are civilians. If anyone will slay the un-armed civilians then it is the job of the United Nations to punish the criminals if this country's law is toothless to bite the criminals.

The escalation will further escalate if we will just sleep in our room and wait for nothing to happen then will wake up tomorrow with new flag, new language and new characters in every walls.

This triggers me a doubt about the rumor of "CONSPIRACY" in the Panatag Stand-off that could be true. The questions are what's conspiracy? Who are conspiring? Who are involved?

The Malaya publication "Chinese 'occupation' of Bajo de Masinloc could reduce PH territorial waters by 38 percent"

 In Malaya Business Insights article Published on Monday, 21 January 2013, Written by ELLEN TORDESILLAS - VERA Files, this article would really awake us from a deep sleep that if we will keep sleeping, we would be losing our territory anytime soon.

MALAYA: The Philippines is at a loss over China's declaration its ships will stay permanently in Bajo de Masinloc, a declaration some experts say could lead to the Philippines losing 38 percent of its territorial waters.

Bajo de Masinloc, a triangular-shaped coral reef formation that has several rocks encircling a lagoon, is located 124 nautical miles west of Masinloc town in Zambales in the northwestern part of the Philippines.

"The shoal is under virtual occupation by China," said former foreign undersecretary and former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Lauro Baja.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed this, saying, "In a subministerial consultation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying had said to our people that China's presence was permanent and they had no intention of withdrawing their ships from the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc."

The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) says Bajo de Masinloc has an area of about 120 square kilometers. It is also referred to as Panatag (calm in Pilipino) by fishermen who seek refuge in the area during stormy weather.

Its international name is Scarborough shoal after the tea-carrying British boat Scarborough which sank in the vicinity in 1784. China also claims ownership of the shoal which is 467 nautical miles away from its mainland, and refers to it as Huangyan Island.

Republic Act 9522, which defines the country's archipelagic baseline, includes Bajo de Masinloc as part of Philippine territory. The law classifies it as a regime of islands under Art. 121 of the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC), which means it generates its own territorial sea, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

Under UNCLOS, "an island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide."

An island generates its own maritime regimes, which are 12 nautical miles (nm) for territorial sea, 24 nm for contiguous zone, 200 nm for EEZ and 200 nm continental shelf.

Under this definition, the Chinese claim over Baja de Masinloc means the Philippines risks losing not only the 120-square-kilometer strategically vital reef formation but also some 494,000 square kilometers EEZ, representing 38 per cent of the country's EEZ.

One of the Philippines' options to protest the Chinese encroachment is going to the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the arbitration arm of UNCLOS, of which the Philippines and China are signatories.

Legal experts say the Philippines can ask the ITLOS, which does not deal with territorial disputes, to declare Bajo de Masinloc as a rock rather than an island.

UNCLOS said, "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."

Retired Philippine Navy Commodore Rex Robles, who has been to the area a few times for gunnery practice, declares that "Panatag shoal is a rock."

"It cannot support human life. It is not an island," he concludes.

Lawyer Romel Bagares, executive director of Center for International Law (Philippines), said RA 9522 "does not actually specify whether Bajo de Masinloc consists just of uninhabitable rocks or is capable of economic life pursuant to Art 121 of the UNCLOS. This could be one way of arguing ITLOS has jurisdiction, especially as to the interpretation of provisions. It's a pragmatic approach, no doubt."

What is obvious, Bagares said, is that RA 9522 assumes that the shoal is part of Philippine territory in the fullest sense of the term.

Del Rosario said, "To the extent that their three ships are within our exclusive economic zone, this is in gross violation of the DOC and UNCLOS."

DOC is the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed in 2002 by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, four of them part claimants to islands in the South China Sea, and China. UNCLOS is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Baja said, "When our ships withdrew from Bajo de Masinloc in June and now (we) could not access the area, the shoal became under virtual occupation by China. "

Baja, who drafted the DOC with Malaysia's Abdul Kadir, also said Chinese occupation of the disputed shoal has changed the status quo, contrary to the DOC.

Baja said China is exercising what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) calls "effectivités."

"This is the basis of the Court's decision on the Ligatan Sipadan case where the court awarded the area to Malaysia over Indonesia. Also the same principle in the case between Chile and Peru and between Nicaragua and Guatemala," he said.

Baja said, "We must act and interact before we lose the territory by default and/or estoppel."

Seven months after China's occupation of Bajo de Masinloc, the Philippines is still "reviewing" its options.

Asked about the Philippines' response to China's declaration it has no intentions of pulling out their ships from Panatag shoal, Del Rosario said, "We are reviewing all our options in accordance with our three track approach encompassing the political, legal and diplomatic means."

President   Aquino   has refused to discuss publicly the Philippine efforts on Bajo de Masinloc because he said doing so would be "giving the other side a preview of everything that we will do."

He said, though, in October at a forum at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that the matter "is still being studied by our consultants."

Experts point to two options available to the Philippines: the military option—which is not really an option considering the inferior state of the Philippine Navy compared with China's naval might—and the legal option.

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(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")

This is Prince Dan We again, and I am thankful for all the followers in this site. I hope that my call for unity would be heard and I hope when you vandal the wall of this site for your comments, you will take responsible of your words, and avoid "fighting" because we are here for unity not destruction.