NAVAL troops from the Philippines and Vietnam will compete in "fun games" of football and basketball on the disputed Spratly islands in the West Philippines Sea to ease the tensions in the area, an official said Tuesday.
Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama said the fun games were part of an agreement he signed with his Vietnamese counterpart in October last year as a confidence-building step toward better cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement also called for information-sharing to allow the two countries to respond to maritime accidents in the disputed islands, Pama said.
The Spratlys, a group of about 100 low islands and coral reefs intersecting busy shipping lanes, is claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The area is believed to be rich in petroleum and gas deposits.
Vietnam and the Philippines announced plans to hold "war games" in the area early this year, but China objected and said such acts would undermine Chinese sovereignty.
Pama said no dates had been set for the friendly games, which would require Filipino sailors to hop over to Vietnamese-controlled areas and vice versa to play football and basketball.
They would also exchange information on many issues and plan their response to accidents involving fishermen.
Pama said the two countries also agreed to set up a hot line between their coast guards and maritime police to strengthen their capability to monitor such incidents as piracy and incursion into their territorial waters.
Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon of Pag-asa, a small Spratly island occupied by Philippine forces, said the new cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam was a welcomed development.
"This will lessen the tension and apprehension about a shooting war," he said.
"It's good if they'll play games and eat on the same table."
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/April/11)
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