Palace to press UN arbitration in sea row
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will proceed with its submission of “memorial” or written argument to press its claim over Panatag Shoal before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) amid China’s virtual occupation of the territory as well as its acts of aggression against Filipino fishermen, Malacañang said yesterday.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also denied knowledge of a supposed offer from China to withdraw its ships from the shoal – also called Bajo de Masinloc – in exchange for Manila’s dropping of itsarbitration case against China.
Manila hopes to submit the memorial or pleading to ITLOS before the March 30 deadline.
Beijing has openly rejected the Philippine protest over an incident wherein Chinese coast guards reportedly drove away Filipino fishermen from Panatag Shoal using a water cannon last Jan. 27.
Through international arbitration, the Philippines is contesting China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea.
The arbitration case was also seen as the reason why Beijing asked President Aquino not to push through with his trip to Nanning, China last year even if the Philippines was the country of honor at the China-ASEAN Expo.
“I think we have already made a solid case before the international community. Our case is based on the rule of law,” Valte said.
She said the Philippines’ claims are based on international law and that the country’s approach to staking those claims has the support of the international community.
She said Manila’s filing of a diplomatic protest over the Jan. 27 incident is part of diplomatic and peaceful means to settle the dispute.
Valte pointed out there was nothing new with Beijing’s response rejecting the protest since it had always claimed the whole of the South China Sea.
“The position is that, remember that the case that we filed in the arbitral tribunal involves the concept of the nine-dash line. So essentially, the memorial is already being prepared. While I can tell you generally that it will contain the position of government when it comes to this, I cannot delve into specifics,” Valte said.
“We’ll have to wait for that particular moment when the details can be made public. But now the memorial is being prepared. We have a deadline, we are ready to meet that deadline; and everything to bolster the government’s case, of course, will be contained in the memorial,” she added.
Valte said various departments, primarily the Department of Foreign Affairs, verified their information on the Jan. 27 incident to make sure there would be justification for the filing of a protest.
“And just a little bit of insight on how these things are done, there is great amount of information gatheringwhenever we received reports like that particular incident. And it does go into the responsibilities of the DFA to make sure that the information that they have been receiving is correct, and based on the assessment of the available information, an evaluation is made on what next steps to take. So when it comes to that, the DFA made certain that that particular incident that was being discussed is confirmed and verified,” Valte said, explaining the belated disclosure of the information.
While firing of water cannons at other vessels is normally done as a form of warning to avoid collision, Chinese ships appear to be using it to drive away perceived intruders.
“That is a question that is properly addressed to the Chinese coast guard that engaged in firing the water cannons,” Valte said.
She declined to say whether the incident could bolster the country’s claims against China.
“I will not pretend to be an expert when it comes to international law matters,” she said.
She also emphasized the Philippines would avoid any confrontation in the shoal.
“The guidance has always been not to respond to provocative acts. The chief of staff of the Armed Forces has said this much – that we have selected the path of peace, the path of arbitration, and we will stick to that as we have done in the past few years,” Valte said. “It indeed raises tensions. If my memory serves me right, this is the first time that an incident of this manner has transpired.”
‘Calibrated response’
While avoiding open confrontation with Chinese vessels, the Philippine Coast Guard said it is ready to deploy patrol ships to Panatag Shoal as part of Manila’s “calibrated response” should Chinese ships continue to harass Filipino fishermen.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told News5 that the filing of a diplomatic protest over the Jan. 27 incident was just a first step to bringing the issue to the international community.
“We first file a diplomatic protest on the water cannon incident and to pursue the resolution of the issue through the arbitral tribunal,” Gazmin said. “In case the CCG (Chinese coast guard) vessel will still persist with water cannons, our response should be calibrated – where we will have the Philippine Coast Guard.”
By deploying PCG vessels to the shoal, Gazmin said Manila wants to maintain a “white on white response and not to heighten the tension.”
The PCG is considered the equivalent of the Chinese Maritime Surveillance group. Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said they are still waiting for orders from Malacañang to escort Filipino fishermen to Bajo de Masinloc.
“Our vessels are ready,” Balilo said.
The Chinese embassy in Manila is insisting that China has “indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea and their adjacent waters.” The embassy, in a statement, stressed that China’s sovereignty includes Huangyan Islands, as Bejing calls Panatag.
With Christina Mendez, DJ Sta. Ana, Paolo Romero
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