THE arbitral ruling that handed the Philippines its victory in the West Philippine Sea cannot be enforced as it is, Malacañang said on Tuesday, while conceding that it remains valid because it allows the country to keep a claim that “will be there forever.”
The Malacañang statement came on the same day that the Philippines welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping amid the maritime dispute.
It also comes on the heels of the release of survey results showing most Filipinos want stronger government action on the West Philippine Sea.
In a Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo explained that neither the United Nations and the United States are enforcing the ruling, which invalidated China’s massive claims to the West Philippine Sea.
“So, who will enforce it? Meanwhile, what are we going to do?” Panelo said.
Sought for clarification on whether he meant that the ruling was useless, he said: “Yes. But as I said, we can get what we are supposed to have by negotiation.”
He elaborated: “What the President is doing right now, since it cannot be enforced, is using another tack to get things that he wants to get from them through negotiation.”
Duterte has been criticized for taking a softer approach in dealing with China, with some quarters warning that the administration is virtually sacrificing the country’s sovereignty in exchange for investments, especially for its massive infrastructure program.
Up to this day, China still does not recognize the ruling at The Hague and has since been criticized for its militarization of the West Philippine Sea.
Moreover, Panelo said that perhaps the only way to resolve the dispute is if all the countries in the world will unite and pressure China.
“In other words, there must be a collective action by the countries of the world and either persuade or pressure China into respecting an arbitral decision. We cannot give up this claim simply because it’s already ours. We have won it, and it will be there forever,” he said.
WPS inaction opposed
IN a related development, the Palace also defended the government’s tack in handling the maritime dispute, saying it has done its part to resolve the territorial dispute.
This, after the majority of Filipinos opposed the government’s inaction in the West Philippine Sea dispute, according to the survey results released by Social Weather Stations also on Tuesday.
“We consider the question skewed, as it misleads the public to believe and suggests that the current government has not acted on China’s activities on the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea. This is far from the truth. The Duterte administration has been consistent in its stance in protecting our territorial claims and maritime entitlements. We have formed, together with the Chinese government, a bilateral consultation mechanism as an important venue in amicably resolving territorial disputes and to strengthen the momentum of cooperation in matters of common interest, such as the protection of our fishermen. We, therefore, view the results with skepticism, as the reliability of the data is in question,” Panelo said.
The Palace also said it understands the survey findings showing Filipinos having a high distrust of China compared to countries like United States and Japan.
Of the five specific countries tested for public trust in September 2018, net trust ratings were “very good “ for United States, “moderate” for Japan, Malaysia and Israel, and “poor” for China.
“…We have to underscore the fact that the United States and Japan are our traditional allies; hence it is expected that there is higher level of trust in these two countries. Our country’s renewed ties with our giant neighbor in the North provides us a welcome opportunity for the public to know and understand China better. It does not happen overnight, but we are confident that a more favorable public appreciation of China would happen in the future,” he said, adding that the people’s level of trust with China has improved “dramatically” since President Duterte took office in 2016.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes