THE Supreme Court has affirmed its January 2023 ruling declaring the Arroyo-era tripartite Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and Vietnam unconstitutional.
This after the Court en banc denied with finality due to “lack of merit” a motion for reconsideration seeking a reversal of the 12-2-1 ruling.
In the decision penned by Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan and concurred in by 11 other justices, the court said the motion “merely repleaded the issues raised in the comment and memorandum which the Court had already passed upon in the assailed decision.”
Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier and Rodil Zalameda maintained their dissent while Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo did not take part in the voting as he was
on official leave.
In denying the motion for reconsideration, the High Court reiterated that the JMSU has no legal basis as it involves the exploration of natural resources.
The JMSU expired in July 2008 but the petitioners former Bayan Muna representatives Satur Ocampo and other militant House members, former Quezon congressman Erin Tañada and former senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III still urged the SC to rule on their plea as they reiterated that the tripartite agreement was disadvantageous to the country.
The petitioners told the SC then that through the JMSU, China learned about the enormous reserves of natural gas at the Recto or Reed Bank located within the Philippines’ EEZ, northwest of mainland Palawan.
In its original ruling, the High Court held that the JMSU, by and among China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam), and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) was “unconstitutional” for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources without observing safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution.
The JMSU was entered into during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with China and Vietnam covering 142,886 square kilometers in the disputed South China Sea, majority of which are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Court further said in the January 2023 ruling that as the JMSU involves the exploration of the country’s petroleum resources, it falls within the ambit of Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution.
Under the JMSU, the Philippines, China, and Vietnam through their respective national oil companies agreed to a joint exploration of the South China Sea, even if 80 percent of the 142,886 square km covered in the agreement is within Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
Critics of the tripartite agreement said its approval was tied to $8 billion in projects to be financed by loans from Beijing under the Arroyo administration, to fund the North Rail, South Rail, and the National Broadband Network deal with China’s ZTE Corporation.
