Ex-SFA Del Rosario urges Philippines to bring 2016 arbitral win before UN

The Philippines should raise before the United Nations its arbitral tribunal victory in 2016 over China Germany, France and United Kingdom expressed support for the ruling that invalidated Beijing's massive claims in the disputed South China Sea, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said on Friday.

In note verbale filed before the UN, the three European states said China's historic claims in almost the entire South China Sea were contrary to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It also cited the arbitral award that the Philippines secured at the tribunal in The Hague in four years ago.

"Along with the US, these European nations confirm our position that there is international support for our country’s lawful rights in our West Philippine Sea, as ruled by the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague," Del Rosario said in a statement.

Their statement came weeks after the United States and Australia declared that they did not recognize China's claims.

Del Rosario, who spearheaded the successful arbitration case that resulted in the 2016 legal victory for the Philippines, have been urging the Duterte administration to raise Manila's legal victory before the UN.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. disagreed with Del Rosario citing the lack of support from member-states.

"The position of France, Germany and the UK also unequivocally supports the will of the Filipino people, as shown in surveys, that our government should raise the Arbitral Ruling in the UN General Assembly and other international fora," Del Rosario said.

Once brought to the UN, the General Assembly could adopt a resolution that will call for full compliance of the ruling.

China does not recognize the decision handed down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, insisting it had historic rights over the waters, where other smaller Asian nations have overlapping claims.

"Given the clear international and domestic support for our Arbitral Ruling, it is both incomprehensible and disappointing that our government refuses to invoke the Arbitral Ruling for the sake of the Filipino people. It is our fervent hope that our government will finally listen to its people," Del Rosario said.

China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan are locked in decades- long territorial conflict in the South China Sea, where oil and gas deposits have been discovered in several areas.

China maintains it has indisputable ownership over nearly the entire waters.

The South China Sea territorial disputes are crucial to Asian and Western governments, which use the strategic waters to transport their oil and other inputs that power their economies. -NB, GMA News