Maintaining a rules-based international order is the only path to peace and sustainable growth as the pandemic scarred world must carefully navigate towards a complex multipolar geopolitical environment
July 12 will mark the 7th year anniversary of the landmark case in the Arbitral Ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague invalidating China’s “nine-dash line” claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea and clarified our rights in the West Philippine Sea and our Exclusive Economic Zone.
That day marks a pivotal event that sparked a series of geopolitical tensions wherein the Philippines has become a central stakeholder amidst a scenario that threatens to disrupt the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific Region.
With the 2016 Arbitral Award, the Philippines has made a historic contribution to uphold the international rules-based order and supported by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
This achievement has earned the admiration and endorsement of the global community, who have rejected China’s unjustified intrusions and claims in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
Led by the late Ambassador Albert del Rosario, this great victory was achieved against great odds against the expansionist ambitions of China that to this day refuses to abide by the ruling and persists on strengthening its military projection and continues to violate our territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.
In one of his moving speeches, Ambassador Del Rosario said, “Our overwhelming victory in the Arbitral tribunal is a vindication against China’s unlawful expansion agenda, and its outcome is now an integral part of international law.
“The ruling upheld the need for a rules-based order over the waters in the South China Sea. It espoused that any claim not anchored on and supported by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea should be denied.”
The Filipino people are just as passionate when it comes to asserting the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea as expressed in the June 2022 survey of Pulse Asia wherein approximately nine out of 10 Filipinos want the Marcos Administration to assert our rights over the West Philippine Sea as stipulated in the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration decision.
Moreover, 84 percent of the respondents agree that government should form alliances to defend Philippine territorial rights.
The Arbitral Ruling demonstrates how conflicts in the region should be resolved legally and peacefully.
Amidst evolving security threats in the region, it has created the impetus to uphold the arbitral tribunal’s ruling by strengthening multilateral cooperation and gained the support of like-minded states such as the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The Stratbase ADR Institute, committed as the prime advocates of defending Philippine sovereignty and territorial rights and sustaining the legacy of Ambassador Albert Del Rosario, will host a hybrid town hall discussion themed, “The 7th Year of the Arbitral Victory: Defending the West Philippine Sea, the Indo-Pacific, and the Rules-Based Order” on July 12, 2023, Wednesday, from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (PHT) which will be live-streamed via Zoom.
Among the esteemed dignitaries participating are ambassadors to the Philppines: Hae Kyong (HK) Yu PSM (Australian Embassy), Koshikawa Kazuhiko (Embassy of Japan), Luc Véron (Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines), Laure Beaufils (British Embassy), Shambhu Kumaran (Embassy of India).
The afternoon session will have deep discussions on “Strengthening Alliances and Strategic Partnerships to Defend the Rules-Based International Order” with the keynote address from MaryKay Carlson, Ambassador, US Embassy in the Philippines.
The international panel of top experts and analysts that will share their insights on the current geopolitical landscape are Col. Raymond Powell, US Air Force (Ret.) of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, Stanford University, California; Dr. Lowell Bautista, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Wollongong, Australia; Justice Antonio Carpio, former Senior Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines, and Dr. Raul Pangalangan, Trustee, Stratbase ADR Institute, the former Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law and former Director of Studies, The Hague Academy of International Law.
Stratbase ADRi President Prof. Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit will deliver the opening statements for the morning session on “Maritime Security Cooperation in the Philippines and the Indo-Pacific.”
A message from Philippine Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez will cap the event.
Many were gladly surprised when in his first days of assuming his office, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised that he will not “abandon even one square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power,” and “never again to be subservient to any external force that directs or determines our destiny.”
Newly appointed Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro has stated his support to strengthen external defense capabilities without sacrificing internal security and declared that “our territory is our territory and UNCLOS cannot be changed by the passage of time, nor changes in administration.”
The region’s growth and stability are closely linked to geopolitical and geoeconomic risks and will impact on our country’s priorities not just in areas of internal and external defense but extends to digital and hard infrastructure, trade and investments, tourism, energy, manufacturing, health, governance, and the environment.
Maintaining a rules-based international order is the only path to peace and sustainable growth as the pandemic scarred world must carefully navigate towards a complex multipolar geopolitical environment.