MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / June 18, 2014) – The Philippine government said that it will focus on diplomatic, legal and political tracks in pursuing its claim in the South China Sea, even without Beijing’s cooperation in the arbitration case filed by the Aquino government, a spokesman said.
Secretary Herminio Coloma said it is the only way to the peaceful settlement of disputes in the area. “We prefer to focus on diplomatic, political, and legal options that lead the way towards the peaceful settlement of disputes. At ang nais natin ay humantong ito sa mapayapang resolusyon ng mga pagkakaiba ng posisyon ng iba’t ibang bansa na mayroong claims doon sa maritime entitlements in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
Coloma said the government is doing what is necessary to continue asserting its sovereignty in the contested areas which is also being claim by other countries. He said the Philippine Coast Guard has been conducting periodic patrols in the South China Sea and is assisting the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in its research and monitoring work.
The Philippines is also encouraging its ASEAN allies to pursue the crafting of a binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea, he said.
The government has called for a moratorium on actions that contradict the principles of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct that have already been agreed upon by the ASEAN in 2002.
University of the Philippines Professor Harry Roque said Beijing’s refusal to participate in the arbitration case in the international arbitral tribunal is a serious and belligerent violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to which China is a signatory.
Roque, also Director of the UP Law Center’s Institute of International Legal Studies, said that as party to the Convention, China agreed to refer all matters involving interpretation and application of the UNCLOS to the Convention’s compulsory and binding dispute settlement procedure.
He said said the international community took a very long time to agree on the provisions of the UNCLOS because all countries of the world wanted the Convention to be the “constitution for the seas”.
In agreeing to the UNCLOS, the world community believes that the adoption of all of its provisions would do away with the use of force and unilateral acts in resolving maritime disputes, he said.
He also noted that more worrisome is China’s recent resort to the use of force in bolstering its claims to the disputed territories. It was reported that China has been building artificial islands in Johnson South Reef, expanding its artificial island in the Fiery Cross Reef, and deploying its naval forces to ward off any opposition.
“These constructions are happening in the face of China’s snub of the arbitral proceedings, which precisely impugns China’s legal rights to do so. Clearly, China’s conduct is not only illegal, as prohibited use of force, but is also contemptuous of the proceedings,” Roque said.
Roque also belied China’s claim that the waters within the nine-dash lines are generated by land territory and hence, the controversy cannot be resolved under the UNCLOS.
The Philippines has filed a case at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to have China’s nine-dash line declared as illegal since it is not sanctioned by the UNCLOS.
The Philippines is also asking the Hague-based arbitral tribunal to declare rocks that are only visible during low tide as part of the country’s continental shelf and that waters outside the 12 nautical miles of the Panatag shoal be declared as part of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.
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