A 60-40 sharing agreement proposed by President Rodrigo Duterte for the joint exploration of the South China Sea could revive a private sector initiative held up by a territorial dispute, businessman Manuel Pangilinan said on Monday. President Rodrigo Duterte last month said he had offered Beijing a “better deal” after both the Philippines and China agreed to craft a framework for joint exploration in disputed waters. “That’s what we’ve just indicated, that this might be something as a point of discussion with them in terms of the pure sharing formula,” he said. Pangilinan qualified, however, that Forum Energy had not committed to a sharing arrangement “ because it’s the government that will tell us what is acceptable to them. Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano expressed confidence that both countries would be able to seal a joint exploration agreement before the end of the year.

Source: Manila Times April 30, 2018 16:30 UTC