Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Carlos Sorreta wrongly stated that the Supreme Court (SC) upheld a “literal description” of the national territory in its decision to declare the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) unconstitutional.
The JMSU is a 2005 exploration agreement among the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PETROVIETNAM), and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
The deal covered 142,886 square kilometers of the South China Sea, most of which are part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).