PH pushes rules-based approach

MANILA, Philippines—A rules-based approach provides the key to securing the country’s claims to the Spratly Islands and advancing the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea, Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario said on Monday.

In a statement, Del Rosario emphasized that “where there are disputes, rules provide an effective tool for peaceful and fair resolution.”

“The Philippine policy in the South China Sea—both with respect to securing its terrestrial and maritime domains and advocating dispute resolution and joint cooperation where applicable—is grounded on an unwavering adherence to international law,” he said.

Since international law must be observed, he said, “it behooves the Philippines to embrace this imperative to the fullest.”

“We expect nothing less from our international partners,” Del Rosario said, referring to the other Spratlys claimants—China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

He noted that “not since the Panganiban, or Mischief Reef, incident in 1995 has the Philippines faced serious challenges in the West Philippine Sea, otherwise known as the South China Sea.”

“Our ownership of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) features and our legitimate maritime jurisdictions have been contested by certain nations, even as the Philippines’ sovereignty and jurisdiction over the KIG are firmly grounded on international law,” he said.

“For the Philippines, certainly, the primacy of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), is the cornerstone on which we define and protect our territory and maritime entitlements in the South China Sea.”

Del Rosario said “it is this principle and the requirements of Unclos that governed the passage in 2009 of the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law,” otherwise known as Republic Act No. 9522.

Guidepost

“International law is also the guidepost by which the Philippines engages parties—(Spratlys) claimants and nonclaimants alike—toward a peaceful and just resolution of disputes and the guarantee of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” he said.

“This same pursuit of a rules-based system was behind the adoption of the 2002 Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).”

The DOC provides that “the parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability, including, among others, refraining from action of inhabiting on the presently uninhabited reefs, shoals, cays and other features, and to handle their differences in a constructive manner.”

However, this provision is “being aggressively violated,” Del Rosario said.

“Under the DOC, the parties also affirmed the need for a binding code of conduct (COC) and agreed to work toward its realization. A COC would concretely express our collective goal for rules-based actions by all concerned parties,” he said.

To reinforce this goal, Del Rosario stressed the need for a “framework that transforms the South China Sea from an area of dispute to a zone of peace, freedom, friendship, and cooperation (ZoPFFC) by a segregation of disputed relevant features from the undisputed waters of the South China Sea consistent with Unclos.”

Joint cooperation

Since Recto, or Reed Bank, is part of the continental shelf of western Palawan, “it can only be exclusively developed by the Philippines. However, the Philippines may invite foreign investors to assist in developing the area in accordance with Philippine laws,” Del Rosario said.

“The disputed features, on the other hand, can be transformed into a Joint Cooperation Area for joint development and the establishment of a marine protected area for biodiversity conservation under a ZoPFFC,” he said.

Del Rosario believes a ZoPFFC “represents an important contribution to securing peace, stability and progress in the South China Sea within a rule-of-law framework, and that the concept deserves serious and favorable consideration by countries with stakes in the South China Sea.”

On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy rejected a formal Philippine protest about Beijing’s recent military activities in disputed waters of the South China Sea and its plans to anchor an oil rig there next month. The embassy denied the claims.

In March, Manila complained that Chinese patrol boats had harassed a Philippine oil exploration vessel in disputed waters near the Spratlys. It subsequently filed a protest at the United Nations over Beijing’s claims to the Spratlys.