THE Palace said Wednesday it has tapped Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Francis Jardeleza and former solicitor general Florin Hilbay to study the landmark decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration favoring the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China, and to formulate the next steps in the South China Sea.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said experts from the previous administration were invited to a Tuesday night Cabinet meeting.
Carpio, Jardeleza and Hilbay were part of the Philippine delegation to the UN Arbitral Tribunal when the Philippines first brought its case before the tribunal over China’s “nine-dash line” claims.
On Tuesday, the Palace said it would study the verdict before issuing policy statements in about five days.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Tuesday that Solicitor General Jose Calida would provide President Rodrigo Duterte with a “complete and thorough interpretation” of the ruling in five days.
Carpio on Wednesday said the country’s bid to defend its territories in the West Philippine Sea is not over despite the favorable ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
He said the ruling was only a platform that the government can use to assert its sovereign rights over the disputed islands.
Carpio added that the move of President Duterte to initiate bilateral talks with China could be a viable tool.
“We have now a ruling that says Scarborough Shoal is a traditional fishing ground of Filipino and Chinese fishermen. So both can fish there,” Carpio said.
“This is from an international tribunal, a convention to which China has ratified. So we have to talk to China, establish protocols so we can fish in peace,” Carpio added.
He said a bilateral agreement with China would be the most logical option for the government in pushing for the enforcement of the award.
“We have to talk to China to now allow us to go there [Scarborough Shoal] because the tribunal said we have a traditional fishing right together with Chinese fishermen,” the associate justice said.
If China continues to defy the arbitral ruling and proceed with its ban on Filipino fishermen in the disputed area, Carpio said there are other options that can be pursued.
For instance, the government could go back to the court and block China’s application for a permit to explore the seabed before the international seabed authority.
“The international seabed authority can suspend that license of China. There are so many ways of doing it; that is just only one of the ways to put pressure on China if it refuses. We are not totally helpless,” he said.
Whichever way the government decides, it is important to support the Coast Guard and the fishermen going to disputed island now, Carpio said.
Carpio added that the award only resolved the maritime dispute but did not settle the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China on the Scarborough Shoal.
Carpio also played down the likelihood of war.
Jardeleza agreed that the ruling was just halfway in the country’s crusade for territorial rights in disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea.
“We recognize that our goal of securing our maritime entitlements and ultimately our territorial integrity is a process that will take time,” he said.
In this process, the role of the President would be crucial, he added.
“With this legal advantage, the chief diplomat and architect of our foreign policy, President Rodrigo Duterte, can now proceed with the necessary tools at his disposal to get the job done,” Carpio said.
Jardeleza suggested that the government could now pursue its claims through diplomatic means “by agreement between the various states.”
At the same time, Jardeleza urged the local government units involved to caution fishermen from going back to Scarborough Shoal without adequate protection in place.
“It is important that the local government should reach out to the local fishermen. There has to be a clear guide, safeguards for their protection,” Jardeleza said.
In its award issued last Tuesday, the PCA upheld major submissions of the Philippines, including the declaration of China’s nine-dash line as contrary to United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas (Unclos) and has no basis in law.
The award also affirmed Philippines’ stance that China had no right to drive Filipino fishermen away from the disputed Scarborough Shoal, calling such actions unlawful.
It also declared that the Mischief Reef, Second Thomas Shoal and Reed Bank as “part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines, and are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.”
The PCA ruling also held that China violated its obligations under Unclos to protect and preserve maritime environment when it built artificial islands in Mischief Reef without necessary permission from the Philippines.
The Philippine lead counsel said Wednesday that other claimant countries must now stand up for their rights following the PAC’s landmark ruling.
In a phone interview, the Philippines’ lead counsel against China at the arbitration hearings, Paul Reichler, said the implementation will depend on how the other claimant countries who also have overlapping claims to the West Philippine Sea will also vigorously assert their rights against China.
“It will depend to a great extent on how vigorously all of the affected states, all of the states which have been prejudiced by the nine-dash line, assert their rights against China,” Reichler said, adding that, the enforcement of the ruling will really depend on the conduct of other affected states and the international community in general.
However, he said that claimant countries, in asserting their right, should do it “diplomatically, legally, and above all, peacefully.”
A statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs Wednesday said the ruling of the tribunal was “binding and final” and urged all countries with overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea to “respect and comply” with the decision.
The statement was issued after a Taiwanese warship set sail for the South China Sea to defend “Taiwan’s maritime territory.”
“We’re calling on parties concerned to respect and comply with the decision. We’ also calling on all parties to exercise restraint and sobriety,” the Philippine statement said.