Representatives from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia engage in a discourse to explore the underlying reasons behind the escalating tension in the territorial waters and assess their concept of a rules-based maritime order during a panel discussion in the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea. (PIA-NCR)
QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – Stakeholders representing the Philippines in the Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea strongly expressed their outright opposition to any attempt aimed at downplaying the legitimate interests of the country in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as a true claimant state.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Marshall Louis Alferez has declared before other claimant states that the Philippines remains steadfast in its commitment to champion the primacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the authoritative basis of maritime entitlements.
“The DFA continues to expand its engagement with states based on common interests and advocacy for UNCLOS in all applicable venues,” said Alferez.
The initiative to align the domestic laws of the Philippines to the legal framework set by the UNCLOS was among the critical themes raised during the panel discussion to support the country’s legal assertion of maritime sovereignty over the WPS.
“Our efforts to champion the primacy of UNCLOS has also compelled us to align our domestic law with it. These laws will provide further clarity as to where our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction apply, reaffirming what UNCLOS and the arbitral award have confirmed to be true for the Philippines,” he added, citing hope that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will demonstrate a unified and stronger stance on the maritime disputes.
In direct response to the urgency of strengthening the country’s legal stance on the maritime entitlements of the Philippines within its territorial waters, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. signed the “Philippine Maritime Zones Act” and the “Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act” a day after the dialogue took place.
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The panel discussion essentially integrates perspectives from major claimant states as to the advancement of the rule of law in the South China Sea.
Representatives from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia engaged in a discourse to explore the underlying reasons behind the escalating tension in the territorial waters and assess their concept of a rules-based maritime order.
Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who chairs the Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs (IMOA), underscored how the Philippines followed the rule of law since it brought the arbitration case over the WPS to the Permanent Court of Arbitration under UNCLOS at The Hague in Netherlands to challenge the maritime claims of China by peaceful means.
“The South China Sea, like any other maritime dispute in the world, is governed by fundamental laws. You remove these [principles], then there is no rule of law,” Carpio stressed.
Carpio also reiterated that UNCLOS provides for a compulsory dispute settlement mechanism which compels states to be subject to compulsory arbitration in the event that maritime interests collide.
The advocacy of the Philippines for the rule of law also anchors the commitment to the process to conclude a substantive and effective ASEAN-China Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).
Director Xiaobo Liu of the Marine Study Center in Grandview Institution Beijing meanwhile emphasized that the maritime claims of China do not extend over the whole South China Sea based on the nine-dash line.
“In my personal view, the nine-dash line just mainly marks China’s maximum claim of the rights, including sovereignty rights and other historical rights within that boundary, not absolute sovereignty over the whole South China Sea,” said Liu.
“I hope we can approach this discussion with a classified focus on peaceful solutions and should not just criticize each other’s claims. I don’t think that’s a very smart way to find the solution,” he remarked.
The inaugural Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea convened on November 6, 2024 to bring together foreign policy experts, academics, and maritime practitioners from Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region towards advancing rules-based maritime order in resolving territorial disputes. (JMP/PIA-NCR)
