Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), a newly formed grassroots political party, calls for a negotiated political settlement of the Spratly islands’ disputes among contesting nations, such as the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
“We opposed to strong-arm tactics, bullying, warships deployment that may escalate political tensions in the disputed Spratly Islands,” PLM said.
The Philippines is claiming the Spratly on the basis of the 1992 United Nation Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS), which provides an exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles from the country’s continental shelf. The same argument was used over the claims of Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam and China base their claims on historical records dating back to ancient dynasties. China, however, is claiming not only the islands but the entire South Sea.
The Philippines has lodged complaints against China’s increasing presence and military activities in the Spratly Islands which — it is believed — rich in oil and natural gas reserves– 17.7 billion tons of oil and natural gas – larger than the 13 billion tons held by Kuwait, making it the fourth largest reserve bed in the world.
PLM called on all claimant countries to sit down and peacefully resolve the dispute over Spratly Islands. This is through exercising joint cooperation among the claimant countries in the exploration of the natural resources of the islands and the surrounding sea for the benefit of the Asian nations as a whole.
“To solve the tensions in Spratly Islands, we are proposing the kind of regional cooperation that is now developing in Latin America through the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America) which fosters economic integration and mutual aid in the region. ALBA includes the countries of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Cuba,” PLM stressed.
“On this regard, we call on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries and China to stop increasing military tension and foster regional cooperation to assist each other in the economic and maritime field by operationalization of the China-ASEAN Common Market which could develop and manage the disputed islands,” PLM added.
PLM urged President Noynoy Aquino to exercise restraint and diplomacy, stop the military posturing over the Spratly dispute, and not to call on the United States to meddle in the disputes under the disguise of helping the Philippines.
Press release
June 28, 2011
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