MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Philippines and China on oil and gas development in the West Philippine Sea creates a body that will study how the two countries can pursue joint exploration and development.
A government source privy to the MOU told Rappler that the MOU does not mean the immediate conduct of joint exploration or joint development of marine resources. But it does pave the way for the crafting of a program on how such joint ventures can happen in the future.
The MOU was among 29 documents signed and exchanged by Philippine and Chinese officials during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit in Manila on Tuesday, November 20.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr said in a tweet that he had largely written the MOU that was signed and exchanged in front of Xi and President Rodrigo Duterte. This was confirmed by Rappler’s source on Wednesday, November 21, a day after the MOU exchange.
‘Non-legally binding’
In an interview with reporters right before the welcome ceremony for Xi on Tuesday, Locsin described the document as “non-legally binding.”
“It’s a framework, it’s a non-legally-binding framework. It shows how you are to proceed so you can prepare for when you start negotiating then you know that is the procedure,” he said.
As to the geographic coverage of the framework, the agreement is designed to “govern an area once that area has been agreed upon according to the framework.”
The document written by Locsin is different from the “Framework Agreement on Joint Maritime Oil and Gas Exploration between China and the Philippines” that had supposedly been drafted by Chinese officials.
This framework agreement had “pending issues” on language and wording and thus could not be signed, said another source.
The MOU that was eventually exchanged represented what the Philippines and China find acceptable at the moment, said the source who had seen the document.