‘Will of the people’: Duterte urges raising the sea ruling at the UN

MANILA, Philippines – Two retired Supreme Court justices and a former foreign secretary on Saturday pressed the Duterte government to rally the support of United Nations members to enforce the international arbitration tribunal’s ruling in favor of the Philippines against China’s claims to almost the entire South. China Sea.

“We Filipinos must not waste this opportunity to be heard,” former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and retired associate judges Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales said in a joint statement.

“Having missed so many opportunities due to the postponement of the arbitration ruling since 2016, it is now in our highest national interest to bring this ruling on the South China Sea to the UNGA (UN General Assembly),” they said.

The 75th regular session of the General Assembly will open on September 1 and it is there that states large and small will have “a full window to be heard,” they said.

“When President Duterte decided to archive the arbitration ruling, he also promised the Filipino people to raise the ruling at the ‘right time.’ This coming September is his penultimate opportunity to fulfill his promise to the Filipino people, ”said the three former senior officials.

The 2016 arbitration ruling nullified China’s claims over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Western Philippine Sea.

Beijing rejected the court’s decision and fortified the artificial islands it had built, with soldiers’ barracks, airfields and missile launchers.

Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr. had already rejected Del Rosario’s proposal to bring the arbitration ruling to the United Nations, saying “it doesn’t make sense.”

“We already won it, why would you want to re-litigate something you won?” Locsin said in July.

He reiterated his position on Friday in an interview with CNN Philippines, saying that the Philippines will lose the vote because China could win to its side the many small countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, which is a large voting bloc in the United States. Nations, with promises of development projects.

‘Don’t appeal your victory’

“I’m going to completely ignore your suggestion that we take this to the United Nations, the arbitration award, because when you win something, you don’t appeal your victory,” Locsin said. “This is what Del Rosario wants me to do, but I can’t. Because once you throw it at the United Nations, I’m afraid China has the numbers there and it’s all about the numbers. It’s not about the law. “

In response to Locsin’s statement, Del Rosario and the retired judges said that the country would not retry the arbitration case but would “enforce what we already won.”

Why this year

“Since international law does not have a world police, it is up to us to enforce the arbitration ruling by bringing other countries together in our legal position. If we don’t help ourselves, how can we expect other countries to help us? ” they said.

If the arbitration ruling is lifted this year, the Philippines could work multilaterally and bilaterally with other countries in preparation for the 2021 UNGA session, “when our chances will have improved significantly,” they added.

They said raising the arbitration ruling at the UNGA was also “the will of the Filipino people,” as polls showed that eight out of 10 Filipinos believe the maritime dispute should be brought to the United Nations.

“Our government must listen to its people. Therefore, we call on the leaders of our country to be kindly there for us, ”they said. “There is no politics here, only our willingness to do the right thing, protect what is ours and defend ourselves against persistent intimidation and duplicity from China.”

They said that “The Philippines has the strongest position among all nations to bring the issue of the South China Sea to the fore.”

Grateful

Locsin, who was ambassador to the United Nations prior to his appointment as foreign secretary, said he was grateful to Del Rosario, Carpio and former President Benigno Aquino III for winning the arbitration case, but bringing the ruling to the United Nations. it was out of reach. question.

“I swear I won’t lose that out of a rather fanciful desire to throw this award for challenge again in an uncertain assembly. That’s the most courteous thing I can say, ”he said. “And I cannot afford to lose our arbitration award. I don’t want to go down in history as the guy who lost it. “

‘Simple logic’

Del Rosario, Morales and Carpio said they believed “the odds are against China in this dispute,” since the arbitration ruling was made under the auspices of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

“In the long term, how can 145 littoral states of 193 UN member countries vote against their national interests, going against the Unclos that grants them considerable maritime areas and resources that they did not enjoy before? How can naval powers like the United States, United Kingdom, France and others not support Unclos, which defends its freedom of navigation and overflight around the world? This simple logic should not be lost on us, ”they said.

Although he refused to bring the arbitration ruling against China to the United Nations, Locsin said on Friday that he would recommend terminating government contracts with Chinese companies involved in building China’s artificial islands in the Western Philippine Sea.

The United States previously announced that it would impose sanctions against 24 Chinese companies that participated in the construction of these islands and turned them into military posts.

Sangley project partner

One of these companies is a joint venture partner in the project to build Sangley Point International Airport in Cavite province, which is adjacent to a Philippine Air Force base.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, who had warned of the national security implications of Chinese involvement in certain projects in the country, said on Saturday that he wanted security officials to back Locsin’s position on the matter.

“They are potential threats to our national security and we would like to hear stronger and more decisive voices in the defense and military establishment that support such blacklists,” Pangilinan said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said he would yield to the president to establish the palace’s position on that issue. “There is a position but I prefer that he articulates it,” said Roque.

He said he would meet with the president on Monday and deliver a statement on Tuesday.

Bayan Muna’s representative, Carlos Isagani Zárate, challenged Mr. Duterte on Saturday to endorse Locsin’s position and expand the proposed measure against Chinese companies to those that had tied the Philippines into “onerous” deals, including the draft of the the Chico river dam in Cagayan province and the Kaliwa dam project in Quezon province.

—With reports from Leila B. Salaverria and Melvin Gascon

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