JPE to Duterte: Arbitral award not meaningless but UN powerless to enforce

Former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday night told President Rodrigo Duterte of the significance of the arbitral award which upheld the Philippines claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking apparently to back up Duterte's foreign policy in the South China Sea, Enrile indicated that the award which also voided China's historical claims was based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"Kaya ano pang kailangang resolusyon ng UN para malunasan ang sigalot na yan?" Enrile said in Duterte's Talk to the People briefing, usually a forum on the government's response against COVID-19.

However, the former senator added that while the arbitral ruling was not meaningless, the United Nations did not have the means to implement the international court's decision.

"Sa aking paningin hindi naman nasasayang yung decision ng arbitration diyan sa bagay na yan sapagka't nandiyan na yun eh. Sa palagay ko nakarehistro ang decision sa record ng UN," Enrile explained.

But then he added, "Palagay ko kahit may resolution ng UN yan, di mapapatupad ng UN yung resolution nila. Wala silang police force eh. Wala namang world government na kagaya ng estruktura sa ating bansa."

Enrile, meanwhile, advised the government to choose a "friendly approach" with China in claiming Philippine jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea instead of an "assertive and aggressive" approach.

"Dapat friendly ang approach natin diyan. Hindi hard, aggressive and assertive approach sapagka't kapag hindi tayo magkakaunawa sa China ay madadamay ang interest ng ating mga kababayan ang ating ekonomiya pati na rin ang ating seguridad dito sa usapin nito," the former senate president said.

(We should take a friendly approach, not a hard, aggressive, and assertive approach, because if we fail to reach an understanding with China, this will affect our national interests. The economy, as well as our national security is involved in this.)

Enrile was invited to the pre-recorded Cabinet meeting this week to talk about the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

Before Enrile's statements, Duterte said the 2016 arbitral victory was meaningless as he rejected suggestions to head to the UN and there defend the country's territorial waters from China.

"Since then yung mga paperworks about the arbitral award has become meaningless and the opposite camp of the the political side, ay sinasabi na, I should do the very best in asking the UN," Duterte, who previously branded the arbitral ruling as a worthless crap of paper, argued.

Duterte also reiterated that he prefers to talk with China over the issue instead of defending sovereignty through force.

"I was frank enough in the early days that 'might' make it right. We are not unfortunately on the side of might. We cannot do anything in force so we have to talk. Just talk and talk until such time by grace of God until there is an opportunity in time," Duterte said. — DVM, GMA News