'Game over' for PHL if China finishes building in Scarborough –Justice Carpio 

It will be "game over" for the Philippines if China will be allowed to continue building military facilities in Scarborough Shoal unrestricted, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Tuesday.

"The flashpoint really is Scarborough Shoal and to me that’s the biggest worry because once China completes its air and naval bases in Scarborough Shoal, it would be game over for many of us because China will have control of the South China," Carpio said.

He also told in the defense symposium that not only the Scarborough Shoal is the "next flashpoint" of the territorial row between the Philippines and China, it is also the "missing piece" in China's full control of South China Sea.

"We are nearing a point where China is about to take full control of South China Sea," Carpio said. "Scarborough Shoal is the missing piece."

Scarborough Shoal, or Panatag Shoal, is inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, but China claims it is covered by its "nine-dash line" — a claim invalidated last year by a United Nations (UN) Arbitral Tribunal.

Despite the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Netherlands, Beijing continued its development of artificial islands in the disputed territory.

Carpio, who was one of the country’s legal team that argued the Philippine case at the PCA, said Scarborough Shoal is the last piece for China to declare the South China Sea as within its territorial boundaries after it completes building military facilities in its artificial islands.

"Military facilities of China will be beneficial in making nine-dash line claim as their territorial boundaries," he said.

Vietnam

The Supreme Court magistrate had long called on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, which has been seeking warmer ties with China to firmly engage with Beijing regarding the territorial dispute.

Carpio said the country can follow how Vietnam engages with China, saying the Vietnamese know how to fight for its territory with the Chinese in the Paracel Islands despite the warm economic ties between the two countries.

"I always look at Vietnam. Vietnam has strong relations with China but Vietnam is strong in defending its maritime zones," he said.

"Every time China does something Vietnam protests officially and they remain friends with China in terms of business relations," Carpio added.

He also noted that Vietnam is always "on guard" against China, and urged the Duterte administration to do the same.

Test US commitment on MDT

Carpio said the Philippines could test the commitment of the United States in the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) if the country sends one of its naval ships in Scarborough Shoal.

“We can send our Navy ship there and wait for it to be attacked because any attack on that armed vessel of the Philippines can trigger the operation of the MDT,” Carpio said.

“If it’s attacked, then the US will have to decide if it will honor the treaty or not," he added.

The Philippines signed the MDT with the US in 1951 for defense and develop assistance. The Visiting Forces Agreement is also under the MDT.

Carpio, however, said that the Americans sending their troops in Scarborough Shoal would be for naught if the Philippines itself would not defend it.

“If we ourselves are not going to defend Scarborough Shoal, why would the Americans send their soldiers to die there on the rocks?” Carpio said. —KBK/NB, GMA News