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Pinoy Abroad

Academicians to Pinoys in China: Stay mum on arbitral ruling


Academicians in the country have warned Filipinos in China from rallying against their host government’s refusal to honor the arbitral ruling favoring the Philippines.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration voided China's claims over most of the South China Sea, invalidating Beijing's encroachment into the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has maintained a “soft-landing approach” and only last late August did he dare to finally touch the ruling in a meeting with China's Xi Jinping, and the result was: The two leaders  "Agreed to disagree."

“Filipinos—or even the Chinese themselves—are not at liberty to register their objection to the government regardless of the reason. In fact, Filipinos wherever they are overseas are obligated to observe the laws of the country where they currently reside,” said Professor Jorge Villamor Tigno at the Department of Political Science of the University of the Philippines, in an email interview last September 2.

Professor Edna Estifania A. Co, DPA of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance is also “not sure whether rallying in China will matter.”

“China is too callous on the issue of the International Ruling and no amount of protests, rallying or even strong statements could melt China's heart,” the director of Centre International de Formation des Autorites et Leaders (CIFAL Philippines) pointed out in an email interview last September 2.

“Look at Hong Kong. Despite the persistent protests, China remains adamant.  One never knows how the HK protests would end. How much more the Filipino migrants who are right there in China - working at the mercy of the Sino business and trade? They could just be ignored at best, or be kicked out from their jobs at worse,” she added.

There are other ways, however, that the Philippines can object to China's rejection of the arbitral ruling, Prof. Tigno pointed out.

“The president should be talking to our ASEAN neighbors to win their support. By herself, the Philippines cannot do much as a small power against China,” the secretary-general of the Philippine Migration Research Network (PMRN) added.

Or retain diplomacy, Prof. Co suggested.

“Diplomacy by China seems to take a different meaning. Diplomacy for them, it seems, involves those that President Duterte and President Xi have taken to work: loans, aid, trade, shared development of natural resources, payment of losses or damage to the fishermen, etc.” —LBG, GMA News

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