PHL ready to answer UN panel’s questions on China sea dispute

The Philippines is prepared to answer additional questions from the arbitration tribunal handling the case filed by the country challenging China’s massive claims on the South China Sea, Malacañang said Monday.

At a press briefing, presidential spokesman Sec. Edwin Lacierda said the Philippine delegation is ready to once again face the arbitral tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands later in the day.

“The Second Round of Arguments is scheduled for today. We are confident that the delegation will be able to thoroughly answer additional questions from the Tribunal,” Lacierda told reporters.

He added that the Philippine side is capable of conveying “the full merit of our arguments” before the tribunal.

“We continue to hope for a favorable ruling,” the Palace official said.

Last week, the five-member arbitral tribunal of the United Nation’s Permanent Court of Arbitration decided to hold another round of oral arguments after hearing the Philippine delegation on why the court has jurisdiction over the case it filed against China.

During the first day of the arbitration hearings, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario urged the tribunal to take up the case, citing its global importance. He also assailed Beijing’s “historic rights” to the contested waters for supposedly violating international law.

Foreign lawyers hired by the Philippines have also been presenting arguments before the tribunal on why it should exercise its jurisdiction over the case.

They also asserted the Philippines’ environmental and fishing claims against China during the second day of the hearing.

Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippines is challenging China’s massive claim over the South China Sea based on historical rights and the so-called nine-dash-line theory.

China, however, has refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings, insisting instead on bilateral talks to settle its territorial dispute with the Philippines. -NB, GMA News