PH won’t drop arbitral ruling in favor of joint oil search with China
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 09:35:41 +0000
The government will not drop or abandon the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea dispute in favor of pursuing a joint oil exploration project with China, Malacañang clarified yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that the government will continue to negotiate “peacefully” with China about the terrorism conflict while pursuing other mutually beneficial interests such as the exploration deal.
“Setting aside doesn’t mean that we will abandon it. What the President means is that, as we have repeated said and as he has said too, the arbitral ruling is still subject to talks between the two countries. Negotiation is ongoing peacefully,” he said.