Bayan Muna representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño went to the Supreme Court Wednesday and filed a petition to stop the government's joint undertaking with China and Vietnam on the exploration of the Spratly islands.
In a 55-page petition for certiorari with application for a temporary restraining order the petitioners are asking the high court to declare the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) agreement void and unconstitutional and to enjoin public respondents from implementing the agreement.
"Walang elemento ng Filipino capital doon sa dalawang partners dito sa undertaking, kaya tingin namin nilabag ang probisyon... Sa pag-aaral ng mga legal counsels namin ay itong seismic undertaking ay bahagi ng exploration," said Ocampo.
The respondents include President Arroyo, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and the Philippine National Oil Company and its exploration corporation.
The petitioners said that respondents committed grave abuse of discretion saying that the agreement is a sell-out of the country's sovereignty.
The petitioners said there was grave abuse of discretion when the respondents allowed the exploration activity with Vietnam and China since Section 2 Article 7 of the Constitution specifically states that such activities may only be done under full control and supervision of the state or if it does enter into joint venture agreement it should only do so with Filipino citizens or corporation at least 60% owned by Filipinos. The petitioners assert that both the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Petro Vietnam which are co-signatories in the agreement are state-owned companies by China and Vietnam respectively.
"This is a sell out kasi eventually kapag natuloy ang exploration, mining proper sa area na iyon ay hindi na lang Pilipino ang makikinabang. May tatlo nang magkakahati diyan at 'yan mismo labag na sa ating Konstitusyon. So it is a sell out. Pati ang territorial boundaries natin apektado diyan," said Casiño.
The late Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran was even included among the seven petitioners in the case filed at the high court.
His colleagues said Ka Bel was with them in preparing the case and in all the setbacks they had to go through prior to its filing.
"Ayaw nilang bigyan kami ng official copy kasi malalabag daw ang probisyon na iyon pero tingin namin ang overarching na violation ay iyong hinihiling ng ating Konstitusyon na mailantad itong kasunduan na ito because it involves the public interest," said Ocampo.
For the lawmakers the fight continues with hopes that the SC will rule on their petition soon.
Ermita when asked for a comment said: "First of all, JMSU is a private undertaking of three companies that are undertaking the research work. Until such time it is decided on by the court, we have to go by the stipulations of the contract which is a private undertaking." With reports from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN News