tap the “play arrow” (click “Listen in browser”) on the soundcloud pod to play the joint sea exploration theme:
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China-Philippine Agreement on Joint Oil Exploration in the West Philippine Sea/ South China Sea
If an agreement creates rights and obligations that are legally binding on the parties, it is an international agreement, or a treaty, regardless of what its title states or regardless of what it is called. The substance therefore of the 29 MOUs (memoranda of understanding) between the Philippines and China should be scrutinized.
(get your best hawk-eyed lawyers to do a line-by-line contract-review). A treaty or international agreement requires the concurrence of 2/3 of the Senate under the 1987 Constitution: “Art. VII Sec. 21. No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.” (1987 Constitution) And now, to the heart of the matter: Is the China-crafted agreement on joint oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea (signed yesterday by the Philippines and China) an MOU or an international agreement?
Examine its terms line by line, don’t rely on what China calls it. (there’s no contract-review here, apologies, i don’t do unsolicited contract-reviews … Well, ok, not a contract-review – just based on the television graphics of some of its isolated terms, the so-called MOU seems to be preparatory to an international agreement on joint exploration for oil in “certain relevant sea areas” … even the area is vague.) It’s not too late; and it’s not too early, better to prevent than to be too late. A word of caution: Guys…
okey, isa-Filipino ko na ito at ilalagay sa malabong font para tayo-tayo lang nagkakaintindihan: Guys, sa isang gusto nilang tawagin na “joint exploration”, ang Tsina siyempre ang gagawa ng heavy lifting – ang Tsina, gagamitin nya ang sarili niyang modelling software (for digital analysis of the flow, consistency, and quality of the waters and liquids to detect oil) ; ang sarili niyang seismic surveying equipment, well logging equipment, drill stem test equipment, coring equipment, drilling rigs etc. Sa isang tinatawag nilang “joint exploration”, ipapagamit ba ng Tsina sa Pilipinas ang kanyang software (pag-aari ng Tsina na software), surveying equipment, drill stem test equipment, coring equipment? Hmmm… Hindi. Siyempre hindi. Gamitin mo ang sarili mong equipment. Meron ba tayo nuon? Do we have eynee (any)? …
Mag-aral ka na kasi ng Chinese, tapos magtago ka sa rig nila.
Xie xie.
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For students looking for the windows of their exercises and don’t want to scroll down, here are the links:
a “seascape” shot of the South China Sea, er, este, the West Philippine Sea — it’s the West Philippine Sea as far as the Philippines is concerned (Philippine president PNoy will get angry if i use “South China Sea)… clearly within territorial waters
photographed off the coast of Anda, Pangasinan, Mommy’s home province, north of Manila, Philippines…
uploaded for WordPress by an undiscovered, humble WordPress user aspiring to be a layout artist and photographer’s agent …
(which rendition do you like…?the dark, brooding “Stephen King” version — the one used as background photo — or the pink, candyland “Disney” version … lemme know…)
