MANILA’s top envoy in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) pushed for the peaceful and diplomatic resolution of territorial disputes, particularly in the South China Sea, citing the importance of upholding a rules-based international order.

“Despite irresponsible and dangerous actions against our legitimate activities within our own waters and Exclusive Economic Zone, the Philippines remains committed to diplomacy and other peaceful means to settle disputes,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo told the Assembly, according to a  copy of his speech, dated Sept. 29, which was sent to reporters via WhatsApp on Sunday.

“We will abide by the UN Charter and the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Resolution of Disputes in asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The Philippines and China have resumed diplomatic talks on how to ease tensions in the waterway, even as both sides insisted on upholding their sovereign rights over features in the South China Sea.

Manila and Beijing have traded accusations of intentional ramming of each other’s vessels in a series of clashes last month, just after reaching a pact on resupply missions to a beached Filipino naval ship at Second Thomas Shoal.

Mr. Manalo earlier said Manila does not want to gang up against China with the international community in raising the territorial dispute to the UN’s main policy-making body.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said Manila and its allies ganging up on Beijing would only worsen tensions and destabilize the region.

“We do not accept narratives depicting the South China Sea as a theater of major power rivalry because they all ignore what is an essential truth: all states in this region have a right to determine their own destiny and secure their own future,” Manila’s Foreign Affairs secretary said in his speech.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened in the past year as Beijing continues to block resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila has a handful of troops stationed at a beached vessel.

China and Russia have also criticized the United States’ move to keep its Typhon missile system in the Philippines as it risks fueling an arms race in the region.

Reuters reported Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the US deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines “undermines regional peace and stability.”

Mr. Wang said the deployment “is not in the interests of regional countries.”

The US Army flew the Typhon, which can launch missiles including SM-6 missiles and Tomahawks with a range exceeding 1,600 kilometers (994 miles), to the Philippines in April in what it called a “historic first” and a “significant step in our partnership with the Philippines.”

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. has said Manila has the right to beef up its deterrent posture amid China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea. The Philippines is also open to acquiring the Typhon midrange missile system, Agusan del Norte Rep. Jose “Joboy” S. Aquino II said last week, as he sponsored the 2025 budget of the Defense department.

The Philippines, southern neighbor to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory, is an important part of US strategy in Asia and would be an indispensable staging point for the military to aid Taipei in the event of a Chinese attack.

Mr. Wang said exchanges and cooperation between China and South Korea have become more active this year, Reuters reported.

Manila and Beijing on July 2 reached a “provisional arrangement” for Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls Ayungin.

The UN-backed Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 voided China’s claim over the waterway for being illegal. Beijing has ignored the ruling.

About $3 trillion worth of trade passes through the South China Sea annually, and it is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits, apart from fish stocks.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said in his third address before Congress that his government would continue to find ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas in the waterway “without compromising our position and our principles.”

Mr. Manalo earlier said the Philippines is gearing up for its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where it seeks raise its maritime dispute with China.

“The future of the Asia-Pacific is being shaped not by one or two powers, but by all states therein,” the country’s top diplomat told the UN General Assembly.  “ASEAN exemplifies the agency of states working together in fashioning multilateral approaches and solutions to present-day challenges.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez with Reuters

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

LIQUEFIED natural gas (LNG) is a viable transition fuel to clean energy but may lead to the Philippines’ dependence on imports and environmental damage as the country seeks local gas reserves to boost its power generation capacity, economists said.

“The downside of LNG is that Malampaya gas field is running out of gas and we have to be dependent on imports,” Calixto V. Chikiamco, president of Foundation for Economic Freedom, said in a Viber message. “Also, it’s still carbon and emits pollution into the atmosphere.”

He said the government must craft energy policies that balance out the flaws and strengths of renewables, coal, and natural gas.

The Philippines is hard-pressed to find other sources of indigenous energy as the Malampaya gas field, which supplies a fifth of the country’s power requirements, nears depletion.

The gas field is expected to run out of easily recoverable gas using current techniques by 2027.

At the Senate plenary, lawmakers are deliberating on a bill seeking to promote the production of indigenous natural gas and LNG, which the government sees as a transition fuel towards adopting more renewable energy (RE) sources.

The Philippines plans to raise the share of RE in the country’s energy mix to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040 from the current 22%.

Energy Undersecretary Sharon S. Garin earlier told senators that Manila is trying to encourage more battery systems companies to do business in the country to meet its RE goals.

LNG EXIT
“The government should determine exit periods for LNG plants similar to its mandate on coal-fired power plants,” Terry L. Ridon, a public investment analyst and convenor of the think tank InfraWatch PH, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“It should nonetheless be pointed out that LNG plants, in the context of the climate crisis, produce significant emissions which threaten the future of the planet.”

In April, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said his government is looking into exploring gas reserves in nonconflict areas within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea in a bid to expand its energy and boost the country power generation capabilities.

PXP Energy Corp.’s exploration work at Reed Bank, another potential source of gas in disputed waters, remained suspended due to tensions with China.

China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, seen as a substantial source of oil and gas deposits and where over $3-trillion worth of trade pass through each year.

Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara has said the DoE plans to hold two green energy auctions before the end of the year, offering geothermal, pump-storage hydro and impounding hydro projects.

“The country should strive for a mix, and not dependent on any one fuel source,” Mr. Chikiamco said.

“Each of these energy sources have their advantages and disadvantages and therefore to achieve energy security and environmental conservation.”