DFA's Lazaro 'Ready' to Face Senate Inquiry on Reported 'Ayungin Deal'

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro on Wednesday said she is ready to participate in an inquiry into the reported "Ayungin Deal" between the Philippines and China. "I'm very ready, if you like we can go now," Lazaro said on the sidelines of the 10th ASEAN Media Forum at the Hilton Hotel in Pasay City. DFA spokesperson for Maritime Affairs Rogelio Villanueva said the agency respects the Senate's mandate to conduct hearings and the opportunity it provides their department. "The DFA welcomes the opportunity to clarify matters surrounding the Provisional Understanding at the proper forum and in coordination with defense and security agencies," Villanueva said in a statement. The DFA statement came after Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan sought to investigate the reported “Ayungin Deal” or “Provisional Understanding” that Manila entered with Beijing for its rotation and resupply mission operations to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre inside the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Filed on July 27, Senate Resolution No. 536 directs the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry to “to determine its consistency with the 2016 arbitral award and its implication(s) on the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.” In the resolution, the senator cited the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal victory awarded to the Philippines, which implies that Ayungin Shoal as a part of the Philippine's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, finding that China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis. China has rejected the ruling. Tensions have nevertheless persisted as China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a major waterway through which more than $3 trillion in annual shipborne commerce passes. Parts of the sea are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. On July 20, a Filipino sailor suffered a head injury after he was allegedly struck with a baton by a China Coast Guard personnel during an incident at Ayungin Shoal. The CCG, however, claimed that it was the Philippine side that initiated the confrontation. In response, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said the CCG has no legal basis to conduct maritime law enforcement within the Philippines' EEZ. For its part, the Chinese Embassy maintained that Beijing has sovereign rights over the contested waters.