Teodoro urges unity on West Philippine Sea as arbitral ruling marks 10th year

As the country commemorates the 10th anniversary of the landmark arbitral ruling on July 12, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. urged Filipinos to treat the West Philippine Sea as a matter of national interest rather than partisan politics, stressing that the country's sovereign rights and territorial integrity should never be subject to political division.

Teodoro said the award that invalidated Beijing's sweeping claims over the South China Sea "was not only an award for the Philippines, but an award for the world."

Though there may be critics seeking to dismiss the ruling as a mere "piece of paper," the defense secretary called on Filipinos to "unite around core principles involving the country's sovereignty."

"We cannot afford consensus, but we need convergence. We need purpose against a determined adversary whose relentlessness is uncaring for its own people," he said.

China continues to reject the historic arbitral award, which invalidated its sweeping nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines' sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone. The case was filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013 by the administration of then-President Benigno Aquino III through then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

Teodoro noted that the "piece of paper" has become the foundation of a broader national effort to defend the country's maritime rights and has strengthened international support for the Philippines.

"It has formed the basis of a national effort to be aware of its entitlements, to be aware of the importance of our maritime rights, not only for us but for future generations of Filipinos," he said.

He added that the ruling also transformed the country's defense posture and encouraged deeper cooperation with allies and partners.

"It has motivated an armed force to shift from a mono-theater focus to a multi-domain, multi-theater armed force. It has been a paper of convergence of several countries who find common cause with the Philippines, from our Pacific neighbors, to the Indian Ocean, to Europe," Teodoro said.

"As proof of the potency of this piece of paper, this year's Balikatan exercise was the largest in history. And we do not credit anyone, but we credit the power of law expressed and enunciated in words," he added.

The sentiment was echoed by Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres "Dindo" Manhit, who lamented that previous rhetoric dismissing the ruling weakened what he described as the country's strongest legal asset.

"We must also be honest about a hard chapter in this journey," Manhit said in his opening remarks. "When the Philippines won in The Hague, the country did not immediately deploy the full moral, diplomatic, and strategic weight the Award afforded it."

Manhit pointed to statements made after the 2016 ruling describing the arbitral award as something to be "set aside," "thrown away," or "just a piece of paper."

"Whatever the intention behind those words, they exposed an agenda that works against the national interest: to make the Philippines hesitate in defending its own legal victory, and to give external pressure room to erode what the law has already secured," Manhit said.

"This is not a partisan observation. It is a factual one, and it is precisely why institutions like ours exist—to make sure that no single administration's posture can determine the permanent value of a national asset like this Award," he added.

Looking ahead, Manhit said the country must preserve the gains of the arbitral ruling by building a modern, integrated, multi-domain defense posture supported by the government, the private sector, civil society, and international partners.

He noted that the Stratbase Institute has been at the forefront of these efforts by bringing together government leaders, experts, diplomats, and civil society groups. According to Manhit, this collective and principled approach has translated into concrete initiatives, including visiting forces arrangements, joint and multilateral maritime patrols, defense and cyber dialogues, intelligence-sharing, coast guard cooperation, and defense modernization support.

Manhit also highlighted the Philippines' expanding network of Visiting Forces Agreements (VFAs), noting that the country now has such agreements with six nations—the United States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and, most recently, France, the first European country to sign a VFA with Manila earlier this year.