Palace welcomes arbitration court’s decision to hear PHL case vs. China

By KATHRINA CHARMAINE ALVAREZ, GMA News

Published October 30, 2015 9:29am

(Updated 11:33 a.m.) Malacañang on Friday welcomed the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to assume jurisdiction over the case filed by the Philippines against China over disputed claims in the South China Sea, parts of which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea.

“We welcome the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal on jurisdiction, allowing the Philippines to present its claims on the merits,” Communications Secretary Hermino Coloma Jr. said in a text message.

“Our people can be assured that those representing our country have been continuously preparing for this,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

For its part, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said: “We welcome the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal that it has jurisdiction over our case.”

“We look forward to the Tribunal's further hearing on the merits of the case,” Jose added.

In a separate statement, Solicitor General Florin Hilbay said the court’s decision is a step forward towards a peaceful resolution on the territorial dispute.

“The decision represents a significant step forward in the Philippines' quest for a peaceful, impartial resolution of the disputes between the parties and the clarification of their rights under UNCLOS,” Hilbay, the Philippine legal representative in the proceedings, said.

“The elimination of preliminary objections to the exercise of the tribunal's jurisdiction opens the way for the presentation of the merits of the Philippines' substantive claims,” Hilbay added.

'PHL victory'

Meanwhile, South China Sea analyst Professor Carl Thayer of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defense Force Academy described the development as “a victory in the first instance for the Philippines.”

“The Arbitral Tribunal has answered in the affirmative to two important legal questions – its competence to hear the case and the fact that the Philippines had made a case in international law. The Arbitral Tribunal is now cleared to begin its formal deliberations on this case. China claimed the Arbitral Tribunal has no jurisdiction and would not participate. The Arbitral Tribunal rebuffed China on both accounts, ruling that it would proceed,” Thayer told GMA News Online via e-mail.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila has yet to respond to request for comment on the ruling.

Arbitration court ruling

The arbitration court ruled that it would take up seven of the 15 submissions made against China by the Philippines, which is asking the tribunal to declare Beijing’s sweeping claims over the disputed areas in the South China Sea illegal and excessive.

In its decision, the Netherlands-based court also rejected China’s position that the court cannot assume jurisdiction over the case because it deals with sovereignty over the features in the resource-rich waters, which it says is beyond its scope under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

After assuming jurisdiction on the Philippine case, a hearing on the merits of the Philippines’ claims will be convened by the tribunal soon. — with Michaela del Callar/RSJ, GMA News

Tags: southchinasea, westphilippinesea