Members of Pamalakaya stage a seaside protest in Zambales on June 12, 2021, against Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea. (File photo from the Twitter account of Pamalakaya)
MANILA, Philippines — A militant fishers’ group on Tuesday expressed their strong disapproval of joint maritime seismic undertaking (JMSU) between China and the Philippines.
Pamalakaya made the reaction after the Department of Foreign Affairs announced that the Philippines and China are set to meet in May for “preparatory talks” on the potentially controversial plan to revive oil and gas exploration between the two countries.
Pamalakaya is an acronym for Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas — in English, the National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organization in the Philippines.
“We remind the DFA that it was no less than the Supreme Court that declared the unconstitutionality of the 2005-JMSU between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea,” Fernando Hicap, the Pamalakaya national chairperson, said in a statement.
“This ruling should serve as a jurisprudence against any efforts to revive negotiations for a joint venture with China in the West Philippine Sea,” Hicap added.
In January 2023, the Supreme Court declared the country’s 2005 Tripartite Agreement for JMSU with China and Vietnam unconstitutional.
Voting 12-2-1, which took 14 years, the SC said the JSMU violated the Constitution for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to explore the country’s natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution.
Under the Constitution, the state may directly undertake activities concerning exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources like co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing deals only with Filipino citizens, corporations, or associations where Filipinos own at least 60 percent of the capital.
Hicap, who noted that the country would not benefit from such an arrangement, said the DFA should instead uphold its national sovereignty.
“We maintain that our country won’t benefit from a joint venture with a country that blatantly tramples on our sovereign and territorial rights,” he said.
“Instead of entertaining the idea of a joint exploration, the DFA should be firm in upholding our national sovereignty and territorial integrity to China,” he added.