By Pia Lee-Brago and Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)
Updated April 15, 2012 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - After a brief stalemate yesterday that pitted a Philippine search and rescue vessel against a Chinese surveillance ship, China boosted its presence in Scarborough Shoal with its redeployment of a ship that had been thought to have already left the area.

An aircraft believed to be Chinese was also reported to have harassed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship BRP Pampanga, so far the Philippines’ only symbol of power in Scarborough Shoal.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said China’s show of might came despite its commitment to the Philippines that it would make “no surprises” while negotiations were underway.

“As I said earlier, my meeting with (Chinese) Ambassador Ma (Keqing) last night resulted in a stalemate. Notwithstanding, Ambassador Ma had asked if we would commit to no surprises until we meet again to which I agreed,” Del Rosario said.

“However, today, we received reports from the PCG that China sent back one of its white ships, bringing the number of Chinese ships in the area back to two,” he said.

He said a white Chinese ship – presumably the one that returned – harassed a Philippine-registered vessel with nine French nationals conducting archaeological surveys.

“It appears that there is an element that is lacking in our negotiations. I seek a deeper element of trust from our Chinese friends,” Del Rosario said.

Earlier yesterday, it was reported that all but one of the Chinese vessels involved in a standoff since Tuesday with PCG and Navy ships had left Scarborough Shoal.

But as tensions appeared to have eased with the departure of the ships, diplomatic talks on Friday ended in a stalemate as both sides insisted that the other nation’s ship leave the area first.

“I think the situation... the standoff has been diffused which is what we want. This is a good development. It shows that both parties want to resolve the issue peacefully,” Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, Northern Luzon Command chief, said earlier yesterday.

Before the reappearance of the Chinese vessel, the only remaining Chinese ship in the area was maritime surveillance vessel Zhonggou Haijan with bow number 84. A fisheries vessel and five fishing boats pulled out of Scarborough – locally known as Panatag Shoal – Friday night. At the height of talks between Del Rosario and Ma on Thursday, three fishing boats and one “surveillance” ship slipped out of the area unnoticed by PCG vessel BRP Pampanga.

Alcantara said the pullout of the Chinese vessels could be an indication of China’s acknowledgment of the Philippines’ jurisdiction over the shoal. The lightly armed BRP Pampanga remains in the area.

Alcantara said it might be part of a diplomatic compromise that the Chinese fishing boats and their illegal cargo of corals, giant clams and live sharks were allowed to leave the area without being sanctioned.

Earlier yesterday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that both sides “have agreed to refrain from doing anything that will escalate tensions” and that they are “finding really a diplomatic solution” to the problem.

“Both sides have agreed to give less priority to the diplomatic protests that were filed... There are a lot of things that, according to Secretary Del Rosario, we cannot discuss publicly because the negotiations and the talks are ongoing. But we will leave it up to Secretary Del Rosario to inform us of the other pertinent developments that are ongoing,” Valte said over radio station dzRB.

“As far as the situation now is concerned, they are still there and both sides, of course, are still there and we will leave it up again to the DFA and to the Coast Guard to update us on any developments on this,” she said.

Apparently still unaware of the disappearance of the Chinese fishermen and their illegal catch, Valte said their violation of the country’s laws “is an unresolved issue as of now, according to Secretary Del Rosario, and we will defer, we will leave that to the DFA to talk about.”

Regrettable

Del Rosario said that while he felt relieved by the withdrawal of the Chinese vessels, he said it was “regrettable” that their illegal catch was never confiscated.

“The meeting with Ambassador Ma last night resulted in a stalemate as we had demanded of one another that the other nation’s ship be first to leave the area,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

“We later learned that the Chinese fishing vessels had left the lagoon, a development which we had been working toward except for our not being able to confiscate their illegal harvest pursuant to the Fisheries Code, which was regrettable,” he said. “We will continue to monitor the situation in coordination with concerned agencies.”

“I had stated that we would be willing to allow the Chinese boats to return to China following the confiscation of their harvest of endangered species by our authorities,” but Ma “had asserted that Chinese fishing vessels would be subject to inspection by their own authorities,” Del Rosario said.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rufino Biazon said that while his agency may have jurisdiction over the illegal harvests of corals and giant clams, he would rather wait for the diplomatic initiatives to finish before making a move.

“I don’t think we need to complicate matters with BOC stepping into the fray. I will leave this as a diplomatic and security issue. I believe those are the primary issues,” Biazon said.

“While we can technically say that the BOC has jurisdiction, those primary issues must be resolved first before we get involved,” he said.

“The EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) is within the Philippine territory. For me, technically these are products or items being taken from Philippine territory and they are being exported for trade, so that is export. We have laws that prohibit the export of marine resources,” Biazon said.

The Scarborough Shoal standoff began on Tuesday when two Chinese maritime vessels prevented the crew of BRP Gregorio del Pilar from arresting the Chinese fishermen and seizing their illegal catch. The Del Pilar – a reconditioned Hamilton-class coast guard cutter – is the country’s largest and newest warship.

Scarborough or Panatag Shoal is 120 nautical miles from Zambales and is well within the country’s 200-nautical mile EEZ based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to which China is a signatory.

Alcantara, meanwhile, said they would keep their presence in Scarborough as ordered by Armed Forces chief Gen. Jesse Dellosa. There were initially eight Chinese fishing boats seen in the area, but the number increased to 12 at one point, he said.

PCG commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan said another search and rescue vessel would be deployed to Scarborough either tomorrow or Tuesday to relieve BRP Pampanga.

He said the 56-meter BRP EDSA was in Batangas refueling and waiting for the arrival of a medical team. The mission of BRP EDSA, under the command of Capt. Romeo Rivero, is “to replace our vessel now in Scarborough Shoal.”

Dellosa said the Scarborough Shoal face-off has again highlighted the need for the military to modernize.

“Our military upgrade and modernization program is continuing. We need more naval and air assets to protect our own territory,” Dellosa said. “We need these military assets for us to at least address these concerns.”

Ridiculous

Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said it’s ridiculous for China to insist on claiming the entire South China Sea just because the latter – one of the world’s busiest sealanes – is named after the country.

Using China’s logic, Enrile said just about every island or territory may be claimed by any country after which it is named. China is claiming the entire South China Sea and all the islands therein, citing ancient maps and text.

He said several countries have oceans and seas named after them, but they don’t claim ownership to these bodies of water. For instance, India has never claimed the Indian Ocean just as Iran has never considered the whole Persian Gulf its own. Persia is the ancient name of Iran.

“The problem with them is that they (China) are claiming Scarborough on the basis of it being in the South China Sea. But if this is the case then Iran can claim all of the islands in the Persian Gulf and India for the Indian Ocean because these are named after them,” Enrile said.

Aside from Scarborough Shoal, another hotly contested island in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea is the Spratly Islands group. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also claim the islands in whole or in part.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, for his part, has expressed concern over the Chinese poachers’ being able to leave Scarborough Shoal with their illegal harvest of live sharks and corals. He said it was an indication that the Chinese can violate Philippine laws as they please without fear of any repercussion.

Lacson said the items should have been seized by Philippine authorities, particularly by the Coast Guard.

He also took note of the silence of the United States government on the incident. He said a US statement of concern or warning would have made a difference in China’s posturing.

Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said the Philippines should count on US support in such situations based on its existing Mutual Defense Treaty with the world’s superpower.

Lacson said that based on the treaty, the Philippines may even be dragged into war as an ally of the US if the latter is attacked. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Marvin Sy, Aurea Calica and Evelyn Macairan