Tiwala si retired Senior Assoc. Justice Antonio Carpio na kikilalanin din ng China ang arbitral ruling sa West Philippine Sea sa ilalim ng kasunduang nilagdaan nila ng Pilipinas para sa joint exploration.
Ayon kay Carpio, nakasaad sa nilagdaang terms of reference at memorandum of understanding ng Pilipinas at Beijing, na magsisilbing service contractor lang ng pamahalaan ang China National Offshore Oil Company.
Ibig sabihin, kailangang kilalanin ng service contractor na pag-aari pa rin ng Pilipinas ang langis at iba pang natural resources na makukuha mula sa teritoryo kung saan sabay magsasaliksik ang dalawang estado.
“A service contractor acknowledges that the oil and gas belong to the Philippine Government. A service contractor does not claim to be the owner of the oil and gas, otherwise it will not just be a service contractor if it believes it owns the oil and gas,” ani Carpio nang dumalo sa alumni homecoming event ng University of the Philippines College of Law.
Dagdag pa ni Carpio, sapat ang TOR at MOU para maprotektahan ang soberanya ng Pilipinas sa teritoryong pag-aari nito.
“As long as we stick to the MOU and TOR, which recognize the service contract as the mode of cooperation between the Philippines and China, we do not compromise our sovereign rights.”
“We cannot expect China to expressly admit in writing to its own people that the historical narrative that the Chinese government taught them for the last 70 years is totally false. We have to help China make a face-saving exit before its own people without, however, compromising our own sovereign rights,” ani Carpio.
Kung maaalala, Nobyembre ng nakaraang taon nang lagdaan nina Pangulong Duterte at Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping ang memorandum sa kabila ng posisyon ng China na hindi kumikilala sa tagumpay ng Pilipinas sa arbitral court.
