The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a 2005 pact between the Philippines, China, and Vietnam regarding joint oil exploration in the South China Sea (SCS) was unconstitutional.
RULING
Twelve of the court’s 15 justices voted to void the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking agreement that was signed by state-owned companies of the three nations. Two justices voted in favour of the agreement, while one was on leave and did not vote.
Although the complete ruling has not been made public, the court released its highlights in a statement.
The country’s constitution specifies that “the exploration, development and utilisation of natural resources shall be under the full control and supervision of the state.”
According to the court, the agreement violated the constitution by allowing foreign state-owned oil companies to undertake joint oil exploration in the Philippines’ territorial waters.
Oil exploration in Philippine waters is only open to Filipino citizens and corporations or groups that are at least 60% owned by Filipinos.
See the Philippines v China arbitration outcomes mapped in the South China Sea https://t.co/oYc2ZfO6eY pic.twitter.com/qbaXEdgx2K
— AMTI (@AsiaMTI) January 10, 2023
While proponents argued that the agreement only included pre-exploration activities, which were not covered by the constitutional prohibition, the court said that the tripartite agreement’s intent was “to discover petroleum, which is tantamount to exploration.”
The agreement allowed for joint exploration to be carried out across 142,886 square kilometres of the highly contested waters, including areas that the Philippines claims as its own and those contested by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan as well.
TIMING
The ruling comes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing last week. During their meeting, the leaders agreed to revive failed negotiations for joint oil exploration in the region.
Both leaders decided to “establish a direct communication mechanism” between the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs and the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines.
They further reaffirmed the importance of “maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the region and the freedom of navigation in and overflight” above the SCS and peacefully resolving their disputes on the basis of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the UN Charter, and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
HISTORY
The two countries have been engaged in a decades-long territorial dispute in the SCS, which is also one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.
China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads for years over the ownership of the uninhabited Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal, which are strategically important to both countries.