Maritime law expert: Duterte echoing China sentiments when it lost arbitral ruling

Dr. Jay Batongbacal discusses the Maritime Issues of Territorial Seas during the Understanding the Deep Sea: A Public Forum on Benham Rise and the West Philippine Sea held at University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus, Quezon City on March 24, 2018.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — After President Rodrigo Duterte’s “troubling” statements regarding the Philippines’ win over China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, a maritime law expert said that the President is now merely parroting the sentiments the Chinese government had when it lost the arbitral ruling.

Maritime law expert and University of the Philippines College of Law professor Jay Batongbacal said that it is wrong for Duterte to compare the country’s arbitral win over China to a piece of paper, to be thrown in trash.

“Actually ang nangyayari niyan ay inuulit lang niya kung ano ‘yung sinabi mismo ng China, nung natalo [sila] nung 2016,” said Batongbacal in an interview over News5 on Thursday.

(Actually what is happening is that he is just repeating what China itself said, when it lost in 2016.)

“So nakakabahala po ‘yan, at ine-expect ko po na, medyo kakambyo na naman siguro maya-maya ang gobyerno pagdating diyan sa issue na ‘yan,” said Batongbacal.

(So that’s troubling, and I’m expecting that the government will later backtrack when it comes to that issue.)

Batongbacal added that over the years, many Southeast Asian countries — like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam — have used the Philippines’ arbitral win as basis to challenge China’s excessive claims on the disputed waters.

“Nakakalungkot na madinig na kung sino pa ‘yung nanalo, siya pa ‘yung nagpapawalang bahala sa kung gaano kahalaga itong sinasabi niyang papel na ito,” said Batongbacal.

(It’s sad to hear that even after our win, he still keeps ignoring how important the ruling is.)

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte said that the country’s arbitral win over China is merely a “piece of paper,” like a trash he can throw away.

Meanwhile, former Philippine Navy officer Magdalo Rep. Manuel Cabochan III also also went after Duterte’s statement regarding the arbitral win, saying that the President has turned into a “lawyer for China.”

In 2013, the Philippines under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III challenged in the Hague court China’s claim that it owned more than 80 percent of the South China Sea.

In 2016, two weeks after Duterte assumed office in 2016, the tribunal ruled that China’s claim had no basis in international law and that it had violated the Philippines’ sovereign right to fish and explore resources in the West Philippine Sea.

China has since then consistently refused to acknowledge the 2016 arbitral ruling.

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JPV