An opposition senatorial candidate Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte is upbeat about the outcome of the Philippines’ case against China over a maritime dispute lodged before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal .
“Our team of lawyers made convincing arguments at The Hague [the Netherlands]. I am confident that they succeeded in convincing the tribunal that our claims were based on all existing international laws and treaties,” he noted.
Romualdez, the House independent bloc leader and Philippine Constitution Association president, said the provisions on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea would clearly favor the Philippines, especially those concerning the country’s rights to defend its territory within the exclusive economic zone.
The country’s legal panel has just concluded the second round of oral arguments on the merits of its claims.
“The Filipinos, not the foreigners, must be the ones to benefit from the West Philippine Sea,” Romualdez stressed.
China has continued to refuse to participate in the arbitration, and has been conducting maritime patrols in the disputed areas to assert its territorial claims anchored “historical rights.”
The hearing, which started last Nov. 24, was held in the Peace Palace, the headquarters of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The Aquino administration brought up a case before the international tribunal to stop China’s incursions and massive land reclamation works in the West Philippine Sea, also known as the Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc.
The international court has given all the parties until Dec. 9 to review and submit corrections to the transcripts of the hearing.
Despite China’s refusal to participate in the proceedings, the tribunal is still giving it a chance to comment in writing until Jan. 1.
Some of the issues to be resolved are whether China is entitled to exercise wh at it refers to as “historic rights” over the disputed territorial waters, and if the nine-dash line has no basis.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, a potentially oil-and-gas-rich area where more than $5 trillion worth of trade passes through every year.
Aside from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the contested area.