FVR wants Security Council meeting before China mission
By Yas D. Ocampo and Roy C. Mabasa
Davao City — Former President Fidel V. Ramos said the Philippines should first convene the National Security Council (NSC) and meet before sending an envoy, such as himself, to face a delegation of Chinese officials for talks on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
In an interview Saturday night at the Marco Polo Davao, Ramos said that the group should include President Duterte himself, with members who Duterte himself chose.
“There should be a National Security Council (meeting) first, so that the Philippine position can be defined by the group of Philippine leaders led by the President himself,” Ramos said.
image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/25_fvr.jpg
Ramos said that while he will be able to attend on behalf of the Philippines, he needs more time to catch up on the issues. “I am not that up-to-date leader anymore, but I am a country elder,” he said.
Ramos said he still has a grasp of the diplomatic issues facing the two nations. But the decisions must first be made by the National Security Council, he added. “Ang haharap niyan, si Presidente, maybe the national security adviser,” he said.
NSC MEETING SET
National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon revealed last night that the NSC will be convened on July 27, gathering a four former presidents and a host of experts in the fields of security, law, foreign policy, and diplomacy.
In a text message to the Manila Bulletin, Esperon said the meeting will be set at 3 p.m. but stopped short of revealing the venue.
He said the NSC, headed by the President, currently lists 42 people as members, including the Vice President and some selected Cabinet members chosen by Duterte.
Meanwhile, Congress elects its own chairmen in the Committees on Defense and Security and on Peace and Order, who become automatic members of the NSC, said Esperon.
The Senate President, the House Speaker as well as their immediate predecessors also sit in the NSC.
It is also the prerogative of the President to pick any prominent citizen as a special invitee to the NSC meeting.
CONFIDENCE BUILDING
In Manila, former foreign affairs undersecretary for policy Lauro Baja, one of the key figures in the 2002 negotiation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea, said former President Ramos’ immediate challenge as special envoy to negotiate with China is to establish a more “comfortable confidence-building atmosphere for talks.”
Ambassador Baja expressed his optimism that the former president can take on the challenge since he possess the “stature and experience.”
“FVR has the diplomatic gravitas and the vision to engage China on these issues,” the former Philippine ambassador to the United Nations said.
Ramos, in his coming talks with China, should place priority on the Scarborough Shoal (also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal) and on Recto Bank, Baja added.
“The shoal because of our fishermen and the bank because we have plans for the area already,” he said. “Both are also the most proximate to us.”
Known for its rich fishing grounds, Scarborough Shoal and its surrounding area is claimed by the Philippines, China, and Taiwan.
The Philippines has argued that its claim over the shoal is based on the juridical criteria established by public international law. It is within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines as provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
On the other hand, both China and Taiwan claim that Chinese people discovered the disputed territory centuries ago and that there is a long history of Chinese fishing activity in the area. Beijing further argued that the area lies within the nine-dash line drawn by China on maps marking its claim to most of the South China Sea.
In its recent decision, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said that China’s nine-dash-line claim has no legal basis. And there is no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the waters or resources.
It ruled that China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by interfering with Philippine fishing in Scarborough Shoal waters and petroleum exploration at Reed Bank.
China has refused to accept the PCA ruling.
Last July 14, President Duterte asked former President Ramos to Beijing to help kickstart bilateral talks over strained relations between the two countries. Last Saturday, Ramos, after a two-hour meeting with Duterte at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City, said he had accepted the offer.
Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/fvr-wants-security-council-meeting-before-china-mission/#v4jOKduIVXg91fZu.99
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