Carpio: China could face backlash over noncompliance with arbitration ruling    

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Friday said it will be to China's disadvantage if it will not voluntarily comply with the ruling of the arbitral tribunal on the West Philippine Sea dispute favoring the Philippines' case.

In a forum on the arbitration ruling, Carpio said China can be sued for damages and reparation in connection with the dredging it conducted on 17 reefs and building islands on seven other reefs in Spratlys.

"The ruling says that China caused severe damage to the marine environment in the Spratlys. Under the international law, the state is liable for its violation of the environmental law. We can demand damages, reparation and that’s one course of action that we can take," he said.

The Philippines scored a victory against China in the landmark ruling 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.

Backlash

Carpio said China’s refusal to recognize the decision of the court, which is tasked to interpret the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), would have a backlash on privileges earlier granted to it.

"The UNCLOS is a package deal. You cannot take which portion of UNCLOS you want to comply. And if China says we will not comply with the ruling of UNCLOS tribunal but we have four permits from the International Seabed Authority, we will continue to explore the seabed with these licenses, that’s cherry picking," said Carpio.

He said the International Seabed Authority or a tribunal can be asked to suspend China's permits to explore the sea beds for not taking the UNCLOS as a package deal.

He added that China also has an extended continental shelf claim in the East Sea.

"That's under process and the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf is a creation of UNCLOS, and if China wants to proceed with their application, it has to comply also with the other portions of UNCLOS," he said.

Carpio said if ever China refuses to allow the Philippines to explore the Reed Bank while China National Offshore Company continues to get gas from it, the latter can ask Canada to seize the assets of the Chinese firm to pay the Philippines.

"What if China brings gas platform in Reed Bank and gut the gas? We have the ruling which says that the gas belongs to the Philippines and the China National Offshore Company took it from us, so we can sue China CNOC in Canada where it has assets and ask the Canadian court, 'Can you please seize the assets to pay us?'” he said.

World support

The Supreme Court justice said the Philippines would need the support of the world to convince China that it is to their benefit to comply with the ruling.

“So in the end, how will the ruling be complied if China does not voluntarily comply? It will be world opinion that will force China to comply because, in due time, China will realize it is to their benefit to comply with the ruling because they have all of these problems with the rest of the world,” he said.

He added that these are all peaceful means.

“There are many ways of enforcing the ruling through those means, that’s why I’m saying it will take time. We have also other means of legal measures to put pressure on China to comply. But of course these are all legal measures, peaceful measures allowed under UNCLOS, under international law,” he said.

“We will never resort to might because that will lead us nowhere,” he added. —KBK, GMA News