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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider More senators say they are open to PH-China joint oil exploration

More senators say they are open to PH-China joint oil exploration

Published Apr 6, 2026 03:03 pm

At A Glance

  • Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said such proposal had already been proposed during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

More senators on Monday, April 6, have said they are open to a possible joint oil and gas exploration between the Philippines and China as they weigh the benefits that the country may gain.
Sen. Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT), presides over a public hearing on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. The hearing gathered key government agencies for a briefing on the country’s preparedness and response to issues arising from the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, focusing on its potential impact on overseas Filipinos, energy supply, food security, transportation, and the national economy. (Mark Balmores)
Sen. Win Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT), presides over a public hearing on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. The hearing gathered key government agencies for a briefing on the country’s preparedness and response to issues arising from the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, focusing on its potential impact on overseas Filipinos, energy supply, food security, transportation, and the national economy. (Mark Balmores)
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said such proposal had already been proposed during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“(Former) Sen. (Gringo) Honasan, (Sen. Panfilo) Lacson and I, together with Ed Mañalac, proposed that to PRRD (Duterte’s initials) during his early years as President,” Sotto said in a message to Senate reporters.
“ES (Executive Secretary Salvador) Medialdia was there. They agreed to our proposal but nothing came out of it,” the Senate chief recalled.
Asked if the Marcos administration should consider the proposal, Sotto replied: “I hope so.”
“I might ask for a meeting after I discuss it with our group again,” he said.
Gatchalian, who leads the Senate Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT) Committee, also said he is open to the proposal materializing in the near future.
But Gatchalian, however, echoed warnings that there should be a governing law that would uphold the Philippines’ sovereignty and sovereign rights in the joint exploration agreement.
“It’s not new, during the Duterte administration, there was already a technical working group (TWG) for that. I was chairman of the Senate energy committee at that time, so I would monitor the developments and really both the Philippine negotiators and the Chinese negotiators find it hard to come up with a common solution,” Gatchalian said.
“Because they want their laws to be followed, we want our own laws to be be followed. So they can’t come up with a common solution,” he said.
“My personal take is, I’m okay to pursue the joint exploration (with China), I’m supportive of the joint exploration, but we need to make sure that our sovereignty and sovereign rights won’t be diminished because that’s within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” he said.
“So it’s very important that whatever document, it should reflect our sovereignty and sovereign rights. That’s the most important,” Gatchalian stressed.
Gatchalian said the government can follow the Malampaya model, which follows a 60-40 rule
“Based in our Constitution, in our laws, the government's share can be 40 percent. So it's the same in Malampaya, the government's share is 40 percent, all ours but all the cost, is with the partner. They take care of the drilling, they take care of whether there's anything to be gained or not. All the cost are theirs. In the Malampaya model, that's it, and that's the model we're following. But that's our law,” he pointed out.
Nevertheless, China is not the only option left for the Philippines, according to Gatchalian.
“There are many (out there). It could be like before: Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum; even here in Southeast Asia there are many. There are those in Indonesia, PTT of Thailand, Petronas of Malaysia. There are many (others),” the senator pointed out.
But Gatchalian acknowledged that China is already “tried and tested in exploration.”
“They already have a lot of their own exploration in their territory. So they already have technology, know-how, they are already extracting oil and gas. So they already have that kind of technology,” he said.
“(But) we have the resources, so we can use their technology, their know-how. But the governing law should be ours because that is our model for everyone who wants to explore in our country,” he pointed out.
“The real issue here is that the reason we are unable to explore is because of the harassment that is happening in that area,” Gatchalian lamented.

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Sherwin Gatchalian Tito Sotto III joint oil exploration PH-China Senate
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