₱5 Billion Armament Budget to Secure West Philippines Oil and Gas Field Approved by President Aquino

President Benigno Aquino III has approved the release of ₱4.9 Billion from the Malampaya fund to strengthen the defenses of natural gas exploration in northern Palawan, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said Wednesday (September 14, 2011).

The fund to be released this month, will be disbursed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the purchased of New smaller patrol vessel, 4 radar Station, Tanks, and modern assault rifles and ammunitions. The AFP was tasked to acquire and deploy a support fleet of ships smaller than the Hamilton class BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

As early as last March, the Philippine military sent an aircraft to the disputed Recto Bank ( Reed Bank) near Palawan following reports that Chinese patrol boats were trying to harass a Filipino oil exploration team there.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, chief of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said the Chinese were claiming the exploration team from the Department of Energy was in Chinese territory where in fact the Recto Bank is just in the backyard of the Philippines, within 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone, while china is within thousands of Kilometers.

BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the Philippine Navy's largest and newly acquired ship, is a symbol of the Philippines' "seriousness" in fortifying the protectors of the country's maritime resources.

The Gregorio del Pilar, however, is less than half the size of China's first aircraft carrier that is expected to go on sea trials by the end of September. The Philippines' largest ship is 367 feet long, compared to China's Shi Lang that measures 1,000 feet.

₱100 Billion Malampaya "Commingled" Fund Missing?

The National Treasurer also disclosed Wednesday at the joint congressional oversight committee hearing on the comprehensive tax reform package that the Malampaya fund, with a remaining balance of ₱99.45 Billion, exists as a "commingled" special account in the government's general fund.

He said the Malampaya collections from 2002 to August 2011 totaled ₱121.97 Billion, of which ₱21.645 Billion was disbursed partly to pay for the Hamilton class ship which the Philippines bought from the United States of America.

During the hearing, Senator Ralph Recto made an issue out of the "commingled" status of the Malampaya fund and said that the fund was missing. Recto argued that the fund cannot be used for any purpose other than those for which it was created.

In a July 5 statement, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad explained the Malampaya fund was "…not actual cash but an accounting of revenue inflows and expenditure items charged against the Fund since revenues were remitted to the government from the Malampaya Natural Gas Project since it started in 2002."

The Malampaya special account is known at the Department of Budget and Management as Fund 151 and is managed by the Bureau of Treasury and the Energy Department.

Abad also said back in July that the Aquino administration had charged ₱2.87 Billion to the Malampaya account for "necessary energy-related" expenditures:

·        ₱2 Billion for fuel requirements of the National Power Corporation-Small Power Utilities Group (NPC-SPUG), to avert a power shortage in off-grid areas

·        ₱450 million for the Pantawid Pasada program as direct support to jeepney and tricycle drivers affected by the recent spate of oil price hikes and

·        ₱423 million for the purchase of the USS Hamilton cutter marine vessel to strengthen the security perimeter of the Malampaya Natural Gas Project.

Abad claimed that during the Arroyo administration only ₱250 million out of the ₱19.64 billion drawn from the fund was spent on an energy-related project that provided electricity to 211 villages in 2006

"The rest of the 98.73 percent or ₱19.39 billion was released for non-energy related projects," Abad noted and broke it down as follows:

·        In 2006, ₱1 billion for the Armed Forces Modernization Fund (What AFP modernization happened in 2006?)

·        In 2008, ₱4 billion for the Department of Agriculture

·        In 2009, a total of ₱14.39 billion to various agencies, including ₱7.07 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways, ₱2.14 billion for the Philippine National Police, ₱1.82 billion for the Agriculture Department, ₱1.4 billion for the National Housing Authority, and ₱900 million for the Department of Agrarian Reform.

National Treasurer Tan said the ₱4.9 billion for the security build-up in northern Palawan will likely be raised through borrowings and then credited to Fund 151.

Budget Secretary Abad in a statement September 7 described how government will disburse the money for Malampaya defenses.

"The amount is divided between the capability requirements of the Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force. Of this amount, ₱2.65 billion will fund base support and logistic system, coast watch requirements; and the acquisition of a high-endurance cutter sea vessel and three helicopters of the Philippine Navy."

"Meanwhile, the Air Force will be using ₱2.30 billion to purchase three helicopters and develop a base-hangar," Abad said.

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The Philippines Starts - Online Protest Against China's Invasion in Spratlys of the Philippines Waters

While the Malacañang Palace Manila said that preparations are underway for the Philippines’ protest before the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Spratlys issues, the online protest headed by young Filipino Netizens is already started today June 4, 2011.

Filipinos are aware of the laws in UNLCOS and Filipinos are confident that the UNCLOS will listen in their protest as it is the law of the sea formulated by the United Nations. The 200 Nautical Mile Economic Zone is stressed in the protest that china must obey the law of the United Nations.

Filipinos are fighting for their territory as it is under the Philippine water where most of the Islands of the Spratly are located.

Other group of Filipinos want to ask the government to issue an order to drive away all countries invading the island within the Philippine territory of 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone by the UNCLOS.

Online Protest stressed the message below as shown in the site http://spratly.highkot.com/

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WE FILIPINOS AROUND THE WORLD DENOUNCED THE INVASION OF CHINA IN OUR PHILIPPINE WATERS IN THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA. WE CALL THE UNCLOS TO ACT OF THIS CHINA’S BELLIGERENCE IN OUR COUNTRY. WE CALL THE UNCLOS TO CONDEMN CHINA’S AGGRESSION

Our Spratly Islands – ( Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), of the Republic of the Philippines is harmed by China . It is in the our West Philippine Sea, within the Philippine waters of the UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA (UNCLOS) - 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic.

• We condemn the chinas’s abuse of power in Asia.

• We denounce the china’s invasion to the Philippine waters

• We criticize the china’s firing of the Filipino Fishermen in the Philippines waters

• We call the UNCLOS to CONDEMN china for their illegal excursion to the Philippine territory

• We call UNCLOS to act on china’s violation of 2002 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea

• We call the united nation to CONDEMN china’s triggering tension in the ASEAN Nation.

WE FILIPINOS AROUND THE WORLD ARE PEACE LOVING PEOPLE AND WE DENOUNCED CHINAS AGGRESSION TO OUR PHILIPPINE TERRITORY

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Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government is preparing what it can present to the UNCLOS.

“We will prepare accordingly and we hope for the best and again, we prepare for the worst,” she said. “We reiterate our commitment to resolve the dispute peacefully.”

Valte said that President Aquino has always pushed for a “diplomatic resolution of any conflict that will arise in connection with the West Philippine Sea.”

“We wish to stress that the way we are approaching these incidents is that we are fully committed to resolving it in a very diplomatic manner and a peaceful manner as well,” she said.

Malacanang has said that the new construction by China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is a “cause for concern”

The DFA had requested clarification from the Chinese Embassy on the recent sightings of a China Marine Surveillance (CMS) vessel and other People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships at the vicinity of Iroquois Reef-Amy Douglas Bank in the West Philippine Sea. These ships reportedly unloaded building materials, erected an undetermined number of posts, and placed a buoy near the breaker of the Amy Douglas Bank.

The Amy Douglas Bank is located southwest of Recto (Reed) Bank and east of Patag (Flat) Island and is well within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). There are currently no structures on the said bank and the latter is unoccupied, according to a DFA statement.

The posts and buoy placed by the Chinese at the vicinity of the Amy Douglas Bank, however, are about 26 nautical mile east of Patag Island and 125 nautical mile from mainland Palawan.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had said that “any new construction by China in the vicinity of the uninhabited Amy Douglas Bank is a clear violation of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea.”

It will be recalled that during the dialogue between President Aquino and Chinese Defense Minister Liang in May, an agreement was forged between China and the Philippines to continue engaging in dialogue towards an amicable settlement on the disputed Spratly islands.

Both parties also agreed that the best way to solve the issue is to continue to engage into dialogue, not just between China and the Philippines, but also other countries that are claimants to the Spratlys.

 

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