The Office of the President said that the mission was “unofficial” and should not heighten the on-going tensions in the Spratlys. Funding of the said mission came not from the national coffer but from the private pockets of “patriotic” Chinese-Filipino businessmen including Starbucks king, Jun Lopez of the Tantoco family."
There are academic talks in Beijing that while the Philippine government did not officially sanction the mission, the presence of the Palawan Governor, the Kalayaan Mayor and even the Commander of the Western Command of the AFP delivered a message that the visit was “officially tolerated” to assert Philippine sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea and territorial integrity in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).
But what difference did the mission make insofar as Philippine positions in the KIG was concerned?
The mission did make a difference.
First, the mission took place despite the stern warning from China. The recent visit to Spratlys by Filipino lawmakers aptly demonstrated that the activity was an internal affair of the Philippines that China had nothing to do about, except to express its disdain through a diplomatic protest. The mission also delivered a message that China should not interfere to the domestic affairs of the Philippines.
Second, the mission indicated that the Spratly issue is strongly becoming a civil society concern in the Philippines with the involvement of the private sector that funded the said visit, not to mention the participation of two Congressmen representing the Akbayan Party with a strong civil society backing. The visit, therefore, meant that official claims of the Philippine government over the Spratlys are getting the ownership of the wider Philippine society.
Third, the raising of Philippine flag, the singing of Philippine national anthem and the reciting of Panatang Makabayan (Pledge of Nationalism) by lawmakers, local government officials, military personnel and officers, and residents of Pag-Asa Island were strong symbols of growing Philippine unity to defend Philippine ownership of the KIG.
Fourth, the mission took place while China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) were crafting the guidelines on how to implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). The mission conveyed a message that while the Philippine government has embraced multilateral cooperation to resolve the Spratly Disputes, it reserves its sovereign rights to act unilaterally to protect what it deems as part of its national territory.
