OREANDA-NEWS. June 16, 2011. Former Marine general and now Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon was among soldiers who were tasked in 1968 by then-President Ferdinand Marcos to occupy the islands in the now-disputed Spratlys.

 He said they were able to occupy 8 of the 11 islands in the Spratlys.

 Biazon said it was not easy, as they went toe-to-toe with Taiwanese forces that were also bent on conquering as many islands in the area as possible.

 He narrated that they encountered Taiwanese vessels during one of their reconnaissance missions.

 "We were fired upon by the Taiwanese, but they were not really hitting us, just some sort of a warning, but they fired again," he said.

 Marcos told them to exercise maximum tolerance.
 
Until today, the Armed Forces of the Philippines exerts maximum tolerance in the area despite the presence of larger naval vessels of other countries.

 Joint venture?

 Biazon said the best way to temper tension between countries claiming the islands is to forge a reasonable joint venture between nations.

 Biazon said the Philippines was already extracting around 45,000 barrels of oil every day in Malampaya area alone in the 1970's.

 From 2002 up to 2010, the government would have already earned P102 billion from the oil extraction, he said.

 More oil exploration projects are being undertaken and countries such as China want to have a slice of the pie, Biazon said.

 "There was a time it went to about 12,000 barrels day, pero hindi ibig sabihin kumonti yun. Pag may nakita silang presence of oil, tinatakpan muna nila for future use or exploration," he revealed.

 Biazon said the call of China for a joint venture might be reasonable at this time. "I think this is the only way for settling dispute partially, I say partially, because eventually we really have to delineate the different boundaries."
 
He proposed for the Aquino government to pursue a multilateral action for 6 claiming nations to come to terms under one agreement.

 He said, "the first thing we have to do now is to try to get the ASEAN plus 1 (China) to convene para mapag-usapan ito."

 Piece of the puzzle

 However, Biazon admitted that this is just one piece of the puzzle.

 All nations involved in the issue will have to come to the United Nations to resolve the territorial dispute, he said.

 "Armed conflict is very very remote, so let's not talk about the military aspect," he added.

 Biazon believes that no country in today's generation, including China, will win through the use of military might.