MANILA, Philippines — Sen. JV Ejercito has urged his fellow parliamentarians to support diplomatic efforts amid negotiations for the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

Stronger dialogue among ASEAN+3 parliamentarians is also necessary to address the region’s peace and security challenges, particularly in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Ejercito said yesterday during the 149th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I invite you all to join the Philippines in a friendly and neighborly conversation so we can begin a parliamentary dialogue that I hope will also shine a light on the harassment and intimidation that my country, and some of our other neighbors, are receiving at increasingly frequent rates,” Ejercito said.

The ASEAN+3 refers to member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Resolutions to maritime disputes in the WPS must be grounded in international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, he noted.

“We are also thankful to our friendly neighbors and growing list of partners who stand with us shoulder-to-shoulder in preserving, defending and strengthening the rules-based regional order,” the senator said.

“We do not want war. We do not want conflict. We want to resolve the issue peacefully and find an amicable settlement,” he added.

Through collective efforts, he said the ASEAN+3 can maintain regional stability and secure a peaceful future.

Senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay also attended the assembly.

Meanwhile, an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said foreign countries are “raking” the country’s resources in the WPS amid the ongoing activities of China in the different areas covered by the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone or EEZ.

Although not directly naming China, BFAR spokesman Nazario Briguera said in an interview with the government-run PTV that it is a huge challenge for the government to protect the country’s marine resources in the WPS.

“This is a very big possibility (that the country’s resources in the WPS are being depleted)… the term is raking the resources as evidenced by the big ships (they used). This can also be considered illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as we cannot regulate what they catch. They do not want to be regulated as they insist they own it (WPS),” Briguera said.

Briguera said authorities are doing their best despite the challenges in the WPS.

“We do not stop (despite these challenges). We establish our presence. We challenge them that they are in the waters of the Philippines and they don’t have the right to fish. That’s actually the effort that we are doing but again it is a huge challenge but we are not actually ignoring the challenge. We are taking actions to address the challenges,” he added.

Briguera condemned the continued destruction of corals and other marine resources in the WPS.

“They actually failed to appreciate that it is not the Philippines that will be affected with the destruction of (marine resources) in the WPS, even the neighboring countries,” he said.

Briguera gave assurance that the resupply mission of the government would continue despite the harassment of Chinese ships.

“This is not an issue of who is strong or who is weakgolden crown, who is civilized or not. Who is pushing for peace and who is pushing for confusion. We are a peace-loving country. What we are doing is based on our right that we own our bodies of water,” he added. — Bella Cariaso

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