MANILA, Philippines—The inquiry by the House of Representatives into the constitutionality and propriety of the joint marine seismic undertaking (JMSU) the Philippines entered into with China and Vietnam around the Kalayaan islands in the South China Sea may have to wait, according to Speaker Prospero Nograles.

“I think there is no compelling urgency. (The JMSU probe) can wait two weeks. But cheap medicines, wage and food security cannot,” Nograles told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) Sunday.

The House plenary had tasked the committees on foreign affairs, energy and national defense to investigate the JMSU, which critics claim surrenders the Philippines’ rights over its natural resources should any be discovered during the term of the agreement.

But the joint committee hearing set for Tuesday may have to be reset because energy committee chair Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo was still abroad.

Nograles indicated he wasn’t about to ask Arroyo, the eldest child of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to delegate a vice chair to preside over the joint hearing in his behalf.

“I have given all chairmen complete autonomy in their committees but we have also given them a time line within which to finish their reports… Mikey knows his responsibilities as chair and he will produce the desired results,” Nograles, an administration ally, said.

Majority Floor Leader Arthur Defensor, chair of the committee on rules, in a letter to foreign affairs committee chair Rep. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City, said the JMSU probe could not push through if one of the panel chairs or a deputized vice chair was absent.

Cuenco said he checked with the committee on energy secretariat and was told Arroyo had left instructions that no committee hearings or meetings were to be held while he was away. Arroyo will be in the United States until May 10.

“This is clearly a dereliction of duty on the part of Mikey,” said Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño on Arroyo’s alleged failure to appoint a vice chair to represent him in the JMSU hearing.

Casiño said he suspected the administration would continue to try to delay the JMSU probe until the three-year agreement that was signed in 2005 lapsed in mid-2008.

The opposition in the House led by Senior Deputy Minority Leader Roilo Golez of Parañaque City had questioned in March the constitutionality and propriety of the JMSU.

The Constitution bans the exploration of Philippine territory by foreigners and the seismic study, Golez said, was a form of exploration.

He also raised national security issues as the seismic survey was conducted by a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil company.

“God help us if they find oil in (the JMSU area),” Golez said.