Aquino's DFA chief thanks Marcos for words on arbitral ruling over West Philippine Sea

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario thanked President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for upholding a 2016 international ruling against China over the highly-contested West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“We are deeply thankful that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. declared what Filipinos would like to hear: that the 2016 Arbitral Ruling is not a claim but already a right; that our sovereignty is ‘sacred’ and that he would not ‘allow a single millimeter of our maritime coastal rights to be trampled upon’,” del Rosario said in a press statement Thursday.

At a media briefing, Marcos vowed his administration would defend the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea.

“We have a very important ruling in our favor and we will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It is not a claim. It is already our territorial right,” Marcos said.

China claims almost all of the resource-rich waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade pass annually, with competing claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016, however, dismissed its expansive nine-dash claim and upheld the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) over the territory.

Manila has repeatedly raised the award in the maritime dispute with Beijing but the latter refused to acknowledge it and described it as “null and void”

As part of the team who filed the arbitration case during the Aquino administration, Del Rosario is hoping Marcos will stay true to his word.

He then said the president-elect, being the chief protector of the national territory, has various options in fighting for the country’s sovereignty including the consistent raising of the Award at the United Nations General Assembly and other international fora.

Also proposed by the former top envoy is the consolidation of the support of other countries that believe in the Arbitral Ruling and the Rule of Law; making China accountable for the environmental crimes it committed in the WPS, and building a minimum credible defense posture to protect our national territory.

“In terms of protecting our national territory, we believe that upholding the 2016 Arbitral Ruling is the right thing to do and a correct start,” Del Rosario said.

“It is our fervent hope that President-elect Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. will abide by his words declared today to protect our West Philippine Sea for the benefit of our countrymen,” he added. —NB, GMA News