Senator Francis Tolentino says becoming a State Party to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will help boost the country’s territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea as recognized and affirmed by the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations led by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, Tolentino called on the Department of Foreign Affairs to devise a mode to diplomatically assert the Philippines’ position in the West Philippine Sea once the Senate concurs on the ratification of the treaty and the country becomes a State Party.
Under the treaty, Tolentino says, a State Party has an obligation to, among others, make a declaration whether there are any nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in its territory or in any place under its jurisdiction or control that are owned, possessed or controlled by another State.
He says such a declaration must be submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations not later than 30 days after the treaty enters into force for a State Party.
If the Philippines becomes a State Party, he says, it can inform the UN Secretary General that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the man-made structures therein are capable of hosting nuclear armaments.
He believes the Philippines has much to gain from becoming a State Party to ensure a regime of peace and a nuclear-free region of amity and cooperation.
Although the TNPW will not fully eliminate the threat or use of nuclear weapons, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Igor Bailen says the treaty increases the stigma against nuclear weapons.
It also puts international pressure on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including China, and other nuclear weapon countries to relinquish those armaments.
Pimentel’s committee endorsed the treaty entered into by the Philippines—TPNW, considered as “very important” by representatives from the DFA, PNP, AFP, DND and other agencies.