Ipinahayag ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na magpapatuloy ang pamahalaan sa pakikipag-usap sa Beijing hinggil sa alalahanin ng dalawang partido sa Malampaya natural gas fields.

Sa ulat ng Philippine Communications Office (PCO), sinabi ni Marcos nang lumahok sa isang kaganapan sa Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) sa Washington, D.C. nitong Huwebes, Mayo 4, na ang tanging paraan upang malutas ang mga isyung ay ang bukas na komunikasyon at negosasyon ng dalawang bansa.

“It is not an easy process but the Malampaya fields, natural gas fields that lie in our, within our baselines and within our exclusive economic zone and that again is being questioned in certain cases, in certain areas by China and we continue to negotiate with them,” ani Marcos.

“We continue to find a way — the essential problem, the essential roadblock to that whole process has been very simple,” dagdag niya.

Binanggit naman ng Pangulo na inaangkin umano ng gobyerno ng China ang mga partikular na lugar kung saan matatagpuan ang Malampaya fields, ngunit kinikilala na umano ito ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) bilang bahagi ng exclusive economic zone ng Pilipinas.

“The nine dash line covers just about the entire West Philippine Sea. We, on the other hand, have established our baselines which have been recognized and accredited by UNCLOS and therefore there is that conflict and so what happens now especially when it comes to exploration in — for energy — for our energy needs are which law will apply because we say this is part of Philippine territory and therefore Philippine law should apply,” ani Marcos.

Gayunpaman, ipinunto ni Marcos na ang magkabilang panig ay dahan-dahang humaharap sa isang resolusyon tungkol sa kanilang mga claim sa Malampaya fields.

“It may have to come down to a compromise that will just limit that application, the application of laws maybe to the vessels that are involved in this exploration and exploitation of whatever natural gas fields we can access,” saad ni Marcos.

Ang Malampaya gas field ay isa umanong deepwater gas-condensate reservoir, na matatagpuan sa pampang, 65 kilometro sa hilagang-kanluran ng isla ng Palawan.