President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday he was open to exploring the South China Sea’s natural resources with rival claimants China and Vietnam, contradicting Foreign Secretary designated Alan Peter Cayetano, who said on Sunday that joint exploration was not a direction for the Philippines in the resolution of disputes in the strategic waterway. De Venecia, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, said that such an effort would promote peace and economic development. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, have competing claims in the waterway, through which $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes every year and where islets, reefs and atolls are believed to be sitting atop vast energy reserves.

Salaveriia, L. B., & Canivel, S. C. (2017, May 17). DU30 open to deal in South China Sea. Philippine Daily Inquirer, pp. A1, A2