Former associate justice of the Supreme Court Antonio Carpio insists China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea against the Philippines continues as the former recently warned it will detain Filipinos who will trespass into the disputed waters.

Carpio said it is a shared responsibility for all Filipinos and the government to preserve the rule of international law to protect smaller countries both from the threats and actual use of armed attacks.

“The principle of the United Nations (UN) Charter is that all disputes between states must be settled by peaceful means by negotiations and arbitrations and outlaws the use or threat of force,” he told members of the Rotary Club of Makati during the Club’s weekly meeting on 21 May at The Peninsula Manila, Makati City.

“If China is able to grab our maritime zones by threat of force, that UN principle will collapse,” Carpio stressed.

China, which prefers to call the disputed area as South China Sea, claims nearly all the water, islands and resources in the area, including the Spratly Islands which is believed to have massive oil reserves.

Arbitration Court decision

This, despite the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands in 2016, affirming that the West Philippine Sea belongs to the Philippines and that only Filipino fisherfolk must extract resources in its exclusive economic zone.

While this ruling has enlightened other nations on the full scope of the Philippine territory, Carpio said much convincing is still needed.

“We must assert it because it’s only now that the world is rallying around the 2016 arbitral award because during the time of former President Duterte, he treated it as if it were just a scrap of paper,” he said.

Duterte made several statements during his term, dismissing the 2016 ruling as he said China has remained friends with the Philippines through trade and culture. He also stressed opposing gestures against China as he maintained that it would likely lead to a war the Philippines would sure lose.

Global effort

While Carpio agreed armed attacks from China are possible, he said there are ways to prevent this.

First is constant communication with fellow Filipinos and foreigners about the strong pieces of evidence incontrovertibly affirming Philippine sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea dating back to the colonial period and prior to the first ownership claim of China in 1947.

“The Filipino should have a common narrative and when we go abroad and explain to people why we have the exclusive economic zone,” Carpio said.

In 1900, Carpio said American colonizers already clarified that the West Philippine Sea and its islands are part of Philippine territory through the Treaty of Washington.

However, Carpio said some Filipinos and foreigners believe otherwise as legal luminaries and academicians still base the Philippine territory on the 1898 Treaty of Paris which did not include Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.

He added that China’s ban on the wide use of internet sites or “firewalls” prevents its citizens from understanding the true territory of the Philippines.

Second is constant communication with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries about the tragedy they might also face if China successfully bullied the rest of the region.

To demonstrate his point, Carpio described the relations between China and Singapore, which is quiet on the maritime territorial issue, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Protected by international law

“I told Singapore that they’re a very small country and rely heavily on the international community to survive as a nation. Small countries are protected by international law, so your national interest lies in seeing to it that the UN Charter is not revised,” he said.

Carpio added China seemed to be only restraining its attacks for now as the US continues to deploy its ships in the West Philippine Sea.

“There’s no ASEAN country that can compete against China’s naval and military strength. We have to explain to our neighbors that we cannot expect the US to remain here forever because the US was isolationist. They refused to participate in World War I and the last to enter World War II. What if that happens again?” he warned.

Third is enhancement of the Philippine naval and military power.

“We have to prepare for that day. We need to strengthen our navy and airforce with ship missiles and cooperate with ASEAN states,” Carpio said.

The West Philippine Sea is also being claimed by Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam.

However, Carpio said the ASEAN countries are divided on whether to side with the Philippines due to economic and security reasons.

Confident

In terms of protecting Filipino fisherfolk against the detention warning of China, Carpio said he is confident that The Hague’s arbitral tribunal and the global community will pressure China to free any detainee that they might apprehend in waters they claim as their own.

“But if, indeed, China apprehends and detains someone in waters they claim are theirs, that would give us the opportunity to bring another arbitration case to the arbitral tribunal. We’ll go to the arbitral tribunal and say this is our exclusive economic zone and this is your 2016 arbitral award that means only Filipino fishermen can fish there,” he said.

“I’m sure the arbitral tribunal will order China to release the arrested fishermen as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea says your domestic law must be compatible with the UNCLOS Law and you are given time to amend your law,” Carpio added.