Soccer, not gunboat, diplomacy in Spratlys

MANILA, Philippines—A new kind of diplomacy in the disputed Spratlys is in the works.

And Filipino soldiers stationed on Philippine-occupied islands in the Spratlys are looking forward to engaging their counterparts from the five other state claimants to the oil-rich specks in the South China Sea.

It is called football—not gunboat—diplomacy, although the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is also dispatching a vessel or two in the area to hook up with a Filipino survey ship reportedly harassed by two Chinese patrol boats last week.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command (Wescom), came up with the idea of playing football with Vietnamese soldiers stationed in the area to defuse tension.

Based in Puerto Princesa City, Wescom is responsible for the province of Palawan and the Philippine islands in the Spratlys.

Sabban said the first round could be played for three days on Pag-asa (Hope) Island which is occupied by the Philippines, while the next round could be played in the Vietnamese-occupied pitch Filipinos called Pugad (Nest).

He said he had formally written the Vietnamese Embassy about holding the friendly meet next month.

But upon advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the games were postponed to avoid any misunderstanding while invitations were being sent to troops from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei who have also laid claim over islands in the Spratlys.

Sabban said he invited Vietnam first because its claimed island is closest to that occupied by the Philippines.

He said his troops could also play basketball with their counterparts posted in the Spratlys.

“First of all we want to avoid any untoward incident where we would be confronting each other. Of course it would be better if we face off in basketball and soccer,” he said.

Planning before incident

Pag-asa is the only barangay making up the Kalayaan Group which is considered a municipality of Palawan. A small group of inhabitants in the area receive monthly supplies delivered by ship since the airstrip there is already dilapidated.

Sabban said the football match with the Vietnamese was proposed before the Reed Bank incident on March 2 which the Philippines has protested but China has so far brushed aside. The Reed Bank is about 250 kilometers west of Palawan.

“(The tension) is gone, but we now have our guidance that everything will be done diplomatically,” he said.

Sabban said at least two Chinese patrol ships tried to prevent personnel of the Department of Energy from their oil exploration activities in the Reed Bank but left after two Philippine aircraft arrived in the area. No skirmish occurred.

“We just did our mandate because that is really our territory,” he said.

Coast Guard escorts

The PCG commandant, Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo, said in a text message Monday, the search-and-rescue (SAR) vessel Nueva Vizcaya, dispatched three days ago, will join MV Venture at Reed Bank.

Another SAR vessel, the San Juan, was also set to depart Puerto Princesa Monday afternoon to join the Nueva Vizcaya in escorting the Venture.

One Islander plane and one monitoring-control-surveillance (MCS) vessel from the PCG are also on standby in Puerto Princesa, he said.

The Philippine Navy also bought a large Hamilton-class patrol craft from the United States to help it guard its waters, Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban announced Monday as he assumed his new post as AFP chief of staff.

“As I speak, Philippine Navy officers are now in the United States… preparing to sail our first Hamilton class navy (vessel) to the Philippines,” Oban said in a speech to troops.

“We shall sustain efforts to modernize our Armed Forces.”

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the Navy said in January that acquiring the refurbished, 115-meter vessel was aimed at boosting its border patrol capability.

And so while football may be a new name of the game, gunboat diplomacy is still very much around. With reports from Jerome Aning and AFP