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The Senate is ready to address a resolution that asks the Duterte administration to prohibit receiving government contracts or conducting business in the country, “foreign entities that are involved or instigated activities that infringe on the country’s sovereignty” over the West. Philippine Sea and other areas within its territorial jurisdiction.
Introduced by Senate President pro tempore Ralph Recto, Resolution 507 cited ongoing efforts to liberalize the Philippine economy, particularly in the utilities, retail, and foreign investment sectors. “It is necessary to ensure that foreign entities conducting business in the country respect and obey the Philippine laws, including, and more importantly, the laws that govern the territory and the national patrimony ”.
At first, the Recto resolution invoked a constitutional mandate for the state to protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use “exclusively to Filipino citizens.”
He recalled that China’s construction of the “Great Wall of Sand” and the unbridled militarization of the maritime zone in or in the vicinity of the Western Philippine Sea have “affected the lives and threatened the livelihoods of Filipinos” in terms of degradation of the sea. environment and deterioration of fish production.
Furthermore, the resolution noted that conservative estimates by a maritime expert from the University of the Philippines Institute of Maritime Sciences show that the Philippines is losing P33.1 billion a year in terms of food and other resource production, climate and environmental regulation, provision of animal habitat and culture. and recreational services due to damaged ecosystems in Panatag Shoal and the Spratly Islands caused by dredging, reclamation activities, and illegal fishing operations by Chinese entities.
In addition, the Recto resolution recalled that the United States Government has imposed sanctions against the People’s Republic of China for dredging and recovering more than 3,000 acres of artificial islands in or in the vicinity of the Western Philippine Sea “instigating destabilization in the region. , violating the rights of sovereign nations and causing “incalculable levels of environmental destruction.”
At the same time, it recognized that the US government imposed visa restrictions on Chinese persons responsible or complicit in the large-scale recovery, construction, militarization of the disputed maritime feature in or in the vicinity of the Sea. of the Western Philippines, or the use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources.
“The US government has also included several Chinese companies, including China Communications Construction Company and its 24 subsidiaries, on the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List, which imposes restrictions on doing business with US companies,” the resolution says. .
In turn, the resolution noted that the Philippine government itself “has not yet imposed any sanction against any Chinese company or entity despite being directly affected by its aggressive recovery activities, the establishment of Chinese districts in the disputed maritime characteristics and continued military concentration in areas within or in the vicinity of the Western Philippine Sea and the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.
“While many local contractors were blacklisted for violating or circumventing procurement laws,” he noted that Chinese companies, “despite a history of fraudulent public procurement practices or direct involvement in recovery activities in the disputed territories are winning contracts for major infrastructure projects in the Philippines. “
The resolution added that Philippine companies, “for pragmatic or political reasons, have ventured with foreign business enterprises, some of which have been identified by other governments as” foreign military companies “or” entities owned or controlled by, or affiliated with foreign governments, armies, or defense industries. “
He suggested that the Philippine government should develop effective mechanisms to prevent and deter corruption and other criminal acts, ensure prudence in the use of public funds and foreign development assistance, protect and secure local companies and businesses, and preserve the integrity of government and public institutions. Service.
