Who owns the Spratlys? Palace invokes pro-PHL arbitral ruling vs. China

Malacañang on Friday for the first time invoked the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China's historic claims over most of the South China Sea including the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman Salvador Panelo made the remark after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that the Spratly Islands or Nansha, as the Chinese call them, were part of Chinese territory. 

"While we concur with the Chinese official's statement that the dispute can be best threshed out through peaceful negotiation... the arbitral ruling however has already been rendered," Panelo said in a statement.

"We remain steadfast in maintaining our claims with respect to our territory and exclusive economic zones pursuant not only to the said arbitral judgment based on accepted principles of public international law but consistent with the directives of our Constitution and the aspirations of the Filipino people," he added.

Panelo earlier said that the Chinese vessels should leave the vicinity of the Philippine-held islands in the West Philippine Sea—the part of the South China Sea claimed by the country.

He said that the Chinese presence was a violation of the country's sovereignty and that the Chinese should leave.

In response, Lu said, "The Nansha Islands are China's territory, which is backed by sufficient historical and jurisprudential evidence."

"For thousands of years, Chinese fishermen have been fishing in these waters in the South China Sea," Lu said in his regular press conference.

"Their rights should not be challenged," he added. 

Panelo said, "the peace in the West Philippine Sea should be maintained and that China should avoid performing acts that will place at risk the Filipino fishermen fishing in the disputed areas."

PHL Victory

On July 12, 2016, Duterte's first month in office, the Philippines scored a victory against China in a landmark ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated Beijing’s massive claims in South China Sea.

The tribunal ruled, among others that:

• China's 'nine-dash-line' is invalid
• Reclaimed islands have no exclusive economic zone
• Chinese law-enforcement vessels had unlawfully created a serious risk of collision when they physically obstructed Philippine vessels
• China's large-scale land reclamation has "caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve and protect fragile ecosystems
• Island building should have stopped during the dispute process

The 501-page ruling was handed down in The Hague, Netherlands, more than three years after the case was filed by the Philippines in January 2013 during the term of President Benigno Aquino III.

‘Useless’

In October 2016, Duterte visited China where he announced the Philippines' alignment with the country.

He had said that the South China Sea arbitration case would “take the back seat” in order to forge stronger economic and trade ties with China.

Panelo in November last year, even called the ruling "useless" for now due to a lack of mechanism to enforce the decision.

"The arbitral ruling cannot [be] taken away from us. It will be there forever but meanwhile who will enforce it? There is no power on Earth that can enforce it. The United Nations cannot. The United States cannot," Panelo had said.—NB/LDF, GMA News