Carpio: Philippines should sue China for damages over non-compensation of Gem-Vir crew

The Philippine government should sue China before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas for damages over Beijing’s failure to grant compensation to 22 fishermen on board a Philippine fishing boat sank by a Chinese vessel in June 2019, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Thursday.

Carpio was referring to the incident last year when a Chinese vessel sank Gem-Vir 1 in Reed Bank—an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone as upheld by the 2016 UN Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling.

The 22 Filipino crew members were left to fend for themselves in the open sea for around six hours before they were extended help by a Vietnamese fisherfolk who happened to pass by them.

“We can seek remuneration [from China] before the ITLOS. We have exclusive fishing rights in Reed Bank which is within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ),” Carpio, who was one of the lead lawyers who argued for the Philippines when Manila sued Beijing over harassment of fishermen before the UN tribunal, said in an ANC interview.

Carpio was referring to the July 2016 ruling of the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague already ruled in favor of the Philippines by rejecting China’s expansive nine-dash line claim of the entire South China Sea.

The same ruling also declared the Spratly Islands, as well as the Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank are all within the Philippines' EEZ and outlawed China’s action of preventing  Filipino fishermen to access Panatag Shoal which the UN Court deemed as a traditional fishing ground for both countries.

“We can demand damages from China because China’s actions [on Gem-Vir 1] happened after the tribunal’s ruling,” Carpio added.

Carpio, however, conceded that such a move is far-fetched given that the policy of the Duterte administration is to appease China.

“We can ask for damages, but that move must be a policy decision of the government. But the policy of the government is never to offend China,” Carpio said.

“This policy of appeasement, of not offending China, to the prejudice of our sovereign rights in West Philippines Sea, is against the national interest. The government is not protecting our sovereign rights,” Carpio added.

But even before the Gem-Vir 1 incident, the 2016 Hague ruling already found China committing the following acts “as a matter of fact”:

• interfering with Philippine petroleum exploration at Reed Bank
• purported to prohibit fishing by Philippine vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,
• protected and failed to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone at Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal and
• constructed installations and artificial islands at Mischief Reef without the authorization of the Philippines.

“The Tribunal therefore concluded that China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights with respect to its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” The Hague ruling read. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News