Philippines to assert arbitration victory at ASEAN meeting in Cambodia

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will assert the 2016 arbitration ruling as the anchor of the Marcos administration’s guiding principle on the South China Sea disputes at an annual regional meeting in Cambodia next week.

The Philippines' focus on the 2016 arbitral award as a basis of its actions will not sit well with China, which rejected the decision and refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings of an international panel in The Hague, Netherlands.

“Secretary Manalo is expected to assert the 1982 UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the arbitral award as the twin anchors of our actions and policies on the South China Sea,” Daniel Espiritu, Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations affairs, told a press briefing on Thursday.

The arbitral tribunal in July 2016 handed a sweeping victory for the Philippines and invalidated China’s historical claims over nearly the entire resource-rich waters.

ASEAN foreign ministers will hold a face-to-face meeting in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh from August 2 to 6 – their first in-person meeting since the pandemic broke out two years ago.

Joining them in a post-ministerial conference are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and foreign ministers from China, Japan, Russia, and Australia, among others.

In a statement on the sixth anniversary of the Philippines’ arbitral victory on July 12, Manalo said the ruling was beyond the reach of denial and rebuttal as he vowed to fight efforts to undermine it.

Manalo’s statement on the ruling underscores the Marcos administration’s commitment to uphold the decision and protect the country’s territories in the South China Sea. Manila renamed areas that fall within its exclusive economic zone and jurisdiction as the West Philippine Sea.

“These findings are no longer within the reach of denial and rebuttal, and are conclusive as they are indisputable. The Award is final,” Manalo said in his first statement on the crucial award as the country’s new top diplomat.

China's response was to denounce the decision as a serious violation of international law, particularly the UNCLOS.

"It is illegal, null and void. China neither accepts nor recognizes it and will never accept any claim or action based on the award. By doing so, we are upholding international rule of law," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference in Beijing on July 13.

"Those who attempt to infringe on China’s sovereignty, rights and interests by implementing this illegal award will not succeed." —VBL, GMA News