[[{“value”:”
Manila and its allies are ‘moving in a calculated way, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said, declining to provide more details
Manila imports almost all its fuel needs and has been trying for years to start energy exploration in the disputed waters, including a partnership with China
The country is seeking to parlay its deepening security ties with Washington into broader economic benefits, said Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.
The Philippines imports almost all its fuel needs and has been trying for years to start energy exploration in the disputed waters, including through a partnership with China. Negotiations between Manila and Beijing have, however, stalled amid heightened tensions, with their coastguard vessels recently clashing again at sea.
Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez says Manila is looking to tap into oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea. Photo: Reuters
Calculated way
As the Philippines builds its security alliances amid tensions with Beijing, it wants these partnerships to yield more trade and investment, said Romualdez. “While we have all these defence ties, the bottom line is economic prosperity. If we do not have economic security, we can have all these defence agreements, and it would mean nothing to us,” the envoy, a cousin of Marcos, said.
“President Marcos is very, very keen on trying to catch these investment opportunities open to us now because we’re in the centre,” Romualdez said. Even European countries are taking interest, he added.
Raimondo said on Monday, her country’s alliance with the Philippines is “iron clad” and that US companies were eager to do business with the Southeast Asian nation.
New investments amounting to more than US$1 billion dollars would be announced, including in areas like solar energy and electric vehicles, she said during an official visit.
While the Philippines’ strong relations with the US is an advantage, competition for investment among Southeast Asian nations is intense. Marcos has to prove that his government can provide a conducive business environment, including less red tape and lower electricity costs, the envoy said.
High power costs remain one of the biggest hurdles for investors, according to Romualdez, and is one of the incentives driving the Philippines’ push to explore its own energy resources.
Marcos’s defence chief, earlier this year, said that it’s increasingly urgent for the Philippines to pursue resource exploration in contested waters, as a key gas field nears depletion.
Last month, the nation’s foreign affairs secretary signalled openness to energy talks with Beijing, while maintaining that Manila would not yield control of any venture to China.
For Philippine Ambassador Romualdez, the time for being soft with Beijing is over.
“What is ours is ours, and we’re not going to stop,” he said of the nation’s plans to explore resources in its exclusive economic zone. “We’ll do it when we feel like it’s time for us to do it,” he said.
Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/
ENB Top News
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack
The post South China Sea: US part of Philippines’ ‘calculated’ plan to tap oil, gas in waters disputed by China appeared first on Energy News Beat.
“}]]
Energy News Beat