The chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense and Security backed businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan's earlier plan to tap a Chinese state-owned oil-exploration firm as a partner in the Philex-led venture to tap gas and oil deposits in uncontested territories in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea to Filipino officials) off Palawan province in western Philippines.

Appearing at the weekly Kapihan sa Maynila forum at the Diamond Hotel in Manila on Monday, Sen. Panfilo Lacson suggested that instead of getting locked in a standoff with Beijing over Scarborough Shoal and involving other allies in the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, Philippine officials could consider holding bilateral talks with China to jointly explore resources in their common borders.

The senator said it is inevitable for the Philippines to look for a foreign partner to explore "massive resources" underneath the South China Sea.

When asked to comment on the failure of a recently concluded forum among foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to issue a ?communiqué on South China Sea issues, Lacson said that as chairman of the Senate defense committee, he would prefer to endorse bilateral discussions with China.

The senator also suggested that it may be better to talk directly with China to set aside differences, rather than relying on third-party arbitration.

Lacson said invoking the Mutual Defense Treaty between Manila and Washington in the current row over Scarborough Shoal "should be a matter of last resort" when Philippine vessels come under attack.

He added that he recently had dinner with the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines who confirmed that officials in Beijing share the same sentiment that the two countries can talk without a third party getting involved.

Lacson issued a warning against taking a "too confrontational" position in the raging row with China.

He quoted former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew as saying "We cannot eat democracy."

"At the moment, we cannot eat sovereignty," Lacson said. "We cannot bargain from a position of weakness. We are very weak right now."