The ongoing war in the Middle East which is expected to escalate rather than lose steam with the end of the first ceasefire accord between the contending camps, puts to the fore the importance of diplomacy and foreign policy of any country, especially ours.
Foreign policy is important because it bears heavily on the ability of the Philippines to find lasting solutions to problems created by the ME conflict, such as the inadequate supply of oil and this commodity’s concomitant high prices.
We are witness to the hopelessness and exasperation aired by Energy Secretary Sharon Garin in finding alternative sources of oil for the country, a feeling shared by the private sector such as Petron which owns the only petroleum refining facility in the country.
Garin has expressed frustration because the Philippines needed to beg the United States for permission to import Russian oil. She believes the need for such negotiations is “frustrating” since we are not as important a country as India which was able to wrangle such an exemption from the US Treasury Department easily.
Two senators — Sherwin Gatchalian and Imee Marcos — raised the issue in the Senate following a presentation made by Foreign Affairs Secretary Tess Lazaro. They both asked why the Philippines needs to seek permission from the United States to secure oil from Russia.
Gatchalian thinks it is not needed. He said, “Why do we need to ask the US? Time is of the essence and we needed the oil yesterday. If we ask permission, that will obviously delay the delivery of the oil supply.”
Secretary Lazaro explained that only the US can lift the United Nations (UN) sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine.
We cannot understand where Lazaro was coming from here. The fact is, there exists NO United Nations Security Council sanctions on Russia, since Russia itself used its veto power in the SC against such a move.
The AI Overview from Google explained:
“No, there are no UN Security Council sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine. While the UN General Assembly has passed resolutions demanding Russia withdraw and condemning the aggression, the SC is blocked because Russia holds veto power. Instead, massive sanctions are implemented unilaterally by a coalition of over 30 countries, including EU, G7 and others. Russian vetoed a binding US Security Council resolution regarding the invasion.”
Earlier, our Philippine Ambassador to Washington boasted that he had secured a waiver from the US departments of State and Treasury on this, but that he was negotiating for its extension for another three months.
Garin stressed that oil importers in the Philippines do not want to risk their capital by purchasing sanctioned oil, and we perfectly understand them. Billions of pesos worth of merchandise and logistics expenses are at stake.
All these problems may be traced to President Bongbong Marcos’ inability to develop and execute a comprehensive plan for oil and gas security for the country. In the face of this, it is even unfortunate and evoking anger that the cabal of Jay Tarriela, Antonio Carpio, the Stratbase Institute and other rabid propagandists for America are sabotaging Bongbong’s move to open discussions with China to jointly develop the Reed Bank for oil and gas exploration.
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