Palace on China’s refusal to comply with arbitral ruling: We’ll agree to disagree

Malacañang said Tuesday the Philippines will continue its friendly ties with China even after Beijing maintained its decision not to comply with the 2016 arbitration ruling that nullified its claim to nearly the entire South China Sea.

In a televised briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the maritime dispute should not be the sum total of the relations between the Philippines and China.

“We will agree to disagree on the arbitral award and we will proceed with our friendly relations and iyong mga bagay-bagay na pupuwedeng isulong, isusulong,” he said, citing economic and trade cooperation between the two nations.

      “Iyong mga hindi pa pupuwedeng maresolba ngayon, isasantabi. They have been consistent in their position and so have we been."

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who has strongly protested recent Chinese actions in the disputed waters, on Sunday publicly called on China to comply with the ruling of the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on the lawsuit filed by the Philippines in 2013.

China on Monday responded by insisting that it would not honor the decision because it was "illegal and invalid.”

Instead of pushing for its compliance to the ruling, China said it hopes that the Philippines would preserve the "hard-won sound momentum of bilateral relations" and uphold peace and stability in the resource-rich waters.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, said the world would not allow China to treat the South China Sea as its “maritime empire.”

Pompeo added that Beijing's actions in the strategic waterway are illegal and that the US will continue to oppose its aggressive actions, and ensure freedom of navigation.

Responding to Pompeo’s comments, Roque said the Philippines will pursue its national interest and that the maritime dispute must be resolved in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Both the Philippines and China are signatories to the UNCLOS. — RSJ, GMA News