China snub on South China Sea ruling will be 'inappropriate' –DND exec

It will be "inappropriate" for China not to recognize the ruling of The Hague-based arbitration court in the Philippines' case against Beijing's claims in the South China Sea, a defense official said Thursday.

"I think medyo it will be inappropriate for a country such as theirs na hindi i-recognize yung international law," said Arsenio Andolong, director of the Department of National Defense' Public Affairs Service.

"We will follow what the international law says, kung ano ang desisyon ng tribunal, whether it is in favor of or against us, sunod tayo and we hope that China will do the same."

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier expressed optimism that the Permanent Court of Arbitration will rule in favor of the country's case, which his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, initiated in 2013 after China seized Scarborough Shoal off Zambales in 2012.

Duterte, however, said he was open to holding bilateral talks with China if the current multilateral efforts to resolve the dispute fails.

The tribunal will release its decision on July 12.

China has refused to take part in the three-year arbitration, saying it would be best to resolve the dispute through bilateral talks and consultation on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with international law.

The Philippines' claims are anchored on its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone provided for under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was signed by 162 countries, including China.

China, on the other hand, relied on its nine-dash-line theory that covers almost the entire South China Sea — an assertion that Manila said was illegal and a violation of international law.

Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion of global trade passes every year. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News