The government must make Duterte’s arbitration award assertion a reality

MANILA, Philippines – Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday that the government should “make real” President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim at the United Nations that the Philippines will not compromise its arbitration victory over China in the maritime dispute between the two. countries in the highly contested South China Sea.

Del Rosario said he was “encouraged” to learn that Duterte “is not impervious at all but listens to the will of his compatriots” by invoking the ruling of July 12, 2016 of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favor of the Philippines. in his speech to the 75th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday morning.

“By invoking the arbitration award, the President has acted with greater fidelity to our Constitution, which obliges him and our army to ensure the sovereignty of our country and protect our lands and seas,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

Next step

“The next step is for our President and his administration to make the invocation of the arbitration award a reality: our government must work seriously to get the support of more countries so that the arbitration award is raised with more emphasis next year, by the [UN General Assembly] 2021, ”he said.

Del Rosario led the Philippine arbitration team in challenging China’s claim over most of the South China Sea in the Hague court.

Addressing the world body’s online session, Mr. Duterte affirmed the Philippines’ arbitration victory and expressed appreciation for the support of other countries for the tribunal’s ruling that China’s general assertion was not based on international law and that China had raped the Philippines. ‘Sovereign rights to fish and explore resources in the Western Philippine Sea, waters within the country’s 370 kilometer exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

“The award is now part of international law, beyond commitment and beyond the reach of governments in approval to dilute, diminish or abandon it,” Duterte said.

“We strongly reject attempts to undermine it,” he said.

He praised the international support for the award.

‘Consistent position’

“We welcome the growing number of states that have endorsed the award and what it represents: the triumph of reason over recklessness, law over disorder, friendship over ambition. This, as it should be, is the majesty of the law, ”Duterte said.

The president’s remarks to the assembly attended by China came amid criticism that he was sitting on the arbitration award to improve ties with Beijing, which rejected the ruling and built artificial islands on reefs claimed by Manila in the Sea of South China.

Shortly after taking office in 2016, Duterte said he would overturn the ruling due to the prevailing political situation.

In his speech at a joint session of Congress in July, the president said it was “useless” because China had possession of islets claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea.

He said he mentioned the arbitration ruling with China in 2019, stating that it was final, binding and not subject to appeal, but Chinese President Xi Jinping refused to acknowledge the award.

Despite those statements, Duterte’s assertion of the arbitration ruling in the UN General Assembly has been his “constant position from the beginning,” his spokesman, Harry Roque, said in a television interview on Wednesday.

“Perhaps if he had delivered his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier, then he would have said the same thing,” Roque said.

When asked how the Philippines would ensure that its legal victory over China is not undermined, Roque said the president’s speech at the UN General Assembly was a course of action, as Duterte called on the international community to recognize the validity of the judgment.

“Now we can only trust multilateralism. I don’t think we can rely on the unilateral use of force. Not only is it prohibited by international law, but we also have limited means for that option and that has been expressed by the President over and over again, ”said Roque.

He said the Philippines will maintain its ties with China despite the maritime dispute between the two countries.

Roque added that he does not see the dispute being resolved soon.

‘Strong support’

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, a member of the Philippine legal team that argued the country’s case before the Hague court, praised the “firm position” that Duterte took at the United Nations.

He said he hoped the Duterte administration would implement the policy statement on all fronts and gather international support to enforce the award.

“[Slave] no more! ”Senator Panfilo Lacson tweeted. “Hear the president invoke the award [in] The UN General Assembly, while firmly rejecting any attempt to undermine it, should now erase doubts about its position on the [West Philippine Sea] trouble.”

“It never was,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. responded on Twitter. “He was [slave] to the reality it inherited: a China that is already in possession of our reef (Panatag Shoal) thanks to the fact that Obama gave it to China when our navy and the Chinese navy had a confrontation and the [United States] He told them both to get out and go. We left, China stayed and claimed it. “

It was China’s seizure of Panatag Shoal in 2012 that forced the administration of then-President Benigno Aquino III to challenge China’s claim over almost the entire South China Sea in the court of The Hague.

Even Senator Francis Pangilinan, a member of the opposition to Duterte in the Senate, welcomed the president’s surprising change from his earlier public comments that critics had seen as a betrayal of China.

“We hope you combine these strong words with actions to include the official presentation of the matter. [to the United Nations]”Pangilinan said.

Emmy

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said he found the president’s prerecorded speech well-written and commendable and that he believed it could have won an Emmy Award.

“From where he spoke, with the whole world watching, he was able to plant our flag in a territory that is historically and legally ours,” Recto said.

Muntinlupa’s representative, Ruffy Biazon, vice chairman of the House of Representatives national defense and security panel, applauded the president’s position at the United Nations.

“This shows that the Philippines can cope with China’s intrusions and claims in the South China Sea without resorting to war,” Biazon said.

—Reports by Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Leila B. Salaverria, Marlon Ramos, and DJ Yap

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