DISPUTE OVER RP BASELINES LAW SHOULD BE
SETTLED BY UN -- PIMENTEL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the Philippines is merely asserting its legitimate right to claim the Kalayaan Islands and Scarborough Shoal by enacting the new Archipelagic Baselines Law and it is prepared to defend its position before in the proper venue, the United Nations.

Pimentel said the protest from China and Vietnam over the baselines law was a natural reaction but they should seek a resolution of the conflict before UN tribunal on the law of the sea, instead of making a show of force that could only cause tension and anxiety in the region.

"China and Vietnam should not get angry because like them, the Philippines drew up its baselines in compliance with the UN convention on the law of the sea," he said.

"Ultimately, it is the UN tribunal on the law of the sea that will decide whether the Philippines correctly drew up its baselines. Let the conflict be resolved there. Let us not shoot each other there."

The minority leader also took exception to the statement of the Washington-based think tank, Heritage Foundation that Beijing's claims in the South China Sea must be challenged explicitly.

"Heritage Foundation's stand to forcefully resist China's claims may be good in theory, but not in the world of facts. We, China's neighbors, have to tread softly and tactfully. Otherwise, we will bear the brunt of its ire unnecessarily," Pimentel said.

Pimentel said the Archipelagic Baselines Law, of which he is one of the authors, was a product of a compromise, which stemmed from the government desire to avoid any course of action that may heat up the tension over the Spratly Islands as a flashpoint conflict in Asia.

Originally, he said he fought for the Kalayaan Islands to be enclosed within the baselines, to emphasize these are directly being claimed by the Philippines as part of its national territory.

However, the minority leader said he had to go along with the position taken by Malacanang that the Kalayaan Islands should be treated as a "regime of islands" supposedly to be compliant with the guidelines prescribed under the UNCLOS without compromising the country's territorial claim.

Pimentel, however, said he agreed with the compromise only after the Senate adopted his proposal that a crucial phrased in the baselines law be modified to read "a regime of islands of the Republic of the Philippines." The modification was approved by the bicameral conference committee.