DFA Optimistic UN Tribunal to Decide in favor of PHL

Cagayan De Oro City (PNA) – The Philippines is optimistic that the international tribunal would favor the country in the case filed against China relative to the dispute in the western Philippines seas, a senior foreign official said on Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said that the Philippines has asked the United Nation’s Permanent Court of Arbitration to act on the country’s case versus China in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Jose was in Cagayan De Oro City to explain the position of the Philippine government about the real issues surrounding the west Philippine sea.

He said that once the UN arbitration court will decide in favor of the Philippines, China has to acquiesce in the decision since it would be “costly” for the Chinese government to defy the UN decision.

Jose said that if China will refuse to accede to the UN decision in favor of the Philippines, the Chinese government would lose credibility in the international community.

“It will be costly in terms of bilateral economic relations with UN member countries who might impose sanction against China,” Jose said.

Jose admitted that bringing the case to the UN tribunal is the only way to settle the conflict peacefully since both the Philippines and China want the issue settled amicably.

Jose does not believe that China will resort to military action because an armed conflict is not a solution to resolve the West Philippine Sea dispute.

China has repeatedly spurned the UN’s call to answer the Philippines case and “warned that the bilateral relations between the two countries would be damaged if the Philippines continue to pursue its claims in the West Philippines Sea.

Jose said the Philippine government has a strong case against China as far as the issue of the dispute in the western Philippine seas is concerned.

At present, China has constructed a massive reclamation that includes an airport and seeming military structure along Mischief Reef, about 22 nautical miles from the Philippine controlled Ayungin shoal.

The Philippine government said that under the UNCLOS, China’s claims of the islets, atolls, and marine resources that fall within the 200-mile limit from the shorelines of the Philippines archipelago in the western Philippine seas are illegal.

Jose said that the Philippine government expects the UN tribunal to render a decision in early 2016. (PNA) LAM/RCK/CD