Justice Carpio says PHL should talk to China, establish protocols

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday said the Philippine government should talk to the Chinese government to allow Filipino fishermen to fish in disputed waters.

“We have to talk to China to now allow us to go there because the tribunal said we have a tradition fishing right together with Chinese fishermen. Definitely we have a right to go there,” he said in an interview on Unang Hirit.

The Philippines scored a victory against China in a landmark ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China’s massive claims in the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea.

The ruling said there was no evidence that China had historically exercised exclusive control over the South China Sea and its resources.

The 501-page ruling was handed down in The Hague, Netherlands, more than three years after the case was filed by the Philippines in January 2013.

“We have now a ruling saying from an international tribunal a convention to which China has ratified. The tribunal said Scarborough Shoal is tradition fishing ground of Filipinos and Chinese fishermen. So both can fish there. So we will talk to China, establish protocols so we can fish in peace,” the associate justice said.

Carpio claimed that should China refuse to let Filipino fisherfolk within the waters, the Philippines is not helpless as it now has leverage.

“We have to support now our Coast Guard, we have to support our fishermen going there. We can also go back to the tribunal if China refuses. There are other avenues, like China has applied under UNCLOS for permit to explore the seabed issued by the International Seabed Authority,” he said. 

He added, “The International Seabed Authority can suspend that license of China. There are so many ways of doing it, just only one of the ways to put pressure on China if it refuses. We are not totally helpless.”

Experts agree

Foreign policy experts agreed the Duterte administration should pursue an independent policy in negotiating with China.

"We need people who will speak for the national interest and not to be cowed down by our allies like the Americans and Japanese. We have these allies with us but we should speak firmly now that we have this arbitration decision. I think is a moral victory that we should take advantage of," said former Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani, former chair of Senate foreign relations committee, in a press briefing.

"We should start planning to develop our exclusive economic zone. We should start thinking on what to do with the fishing there and oil and exploration and test the ruling to the extent we are capable of. If we are not capable of, we should develop the capabilities," added Chinese studies expert Aileen Baviera from the University of the Philippines.

The Duterte government has said it will study the decision before planning its next move.

Meanwhile, Carpio also explained that the tribunal does not have a jurisdiction on the territorial sovereignty of the seas.

“The ruling refers only to fishing, hindi territorial sea of Scarborough Shoal. Because Scarborough Shoal is a territory because it is above water high tide and the tribunal has no authority or jurisdiction to rule on who owns the Scarborough Shoal,” Carpio underscored.

Asked if the tribunal decision would spark war, Carpio said, “There’s no possibility of war. I don’t think so.”

Call to China

Former Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Wednesday said China has to respect the tribunal’s decision on the disputed resource-rich waters in South China Sea.

“I think China is an emerging world power. They want to be respected as one. I think China has to respect of the rule of law to gain the respect of the community of nations,” Del Rosario said.

Former Philippine representative to the United Nations Lauro Baja on Wednesday said the Philippine government has a plan of action following the arbitral tribunal's ruling.

"Mauuwi sa negotiations, talks between the Philippines and China," Baja told GMA News' Arnold Clavio on Unang Balita.

"Ang paniwala ko talaga, you cannot solve a problem, especially a bilateral problem without talking to each other," he added. —Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena and Virgil Lopez/KG/KBK, GMA News