The bilateral relationship between the Philippines and China, which has been strengthened following President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s state visit to the Asian giant, will not be affected despite the Supreme Court's decision to declare unconstitutional a 2005 joint oil exploration pact
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo made the assurance on Wednesday as he said oil and gas is only "basically one aspect" of the Philippines' relationship with China.
Currently, Manalo said the DFA has not yet received an official communication from the Supreme Court regarding its decision to nullify the oil exploration pact among the Philippines, China and Vietnam in the South China Sea. So, the agency will still "have to see how this fans out with respect to oil and gas development," he added.
"I think this is an issue which has been there for some time. In fact, when the President visited China last week, there was a general understanding that we would resume talks in oil and gas development. But of course, there were no details," Manalo said in an interview with CNBC.
With the nullification of the pact, Manalo gave an assurance that strengthened ties between the two countries would continue.
"The two leaders actually reached agreement on a number of sectors. You know—agriculture, even renewable energy, and the infrastructure, etc," he said.
"So it's quite a broad range of cooperation between the Philippines and China. So this is basically one aspect," he added.