FVR defends ex-PNoy’s lawsuit vs. China over sea dispute

Former president Fidel V. Ramos on Friday defended former President Benigno Aquino III's move to bring before an international court Manila's complaint against China over sea dispute, saying it was a "correct step" for the country.

Ramos was responding to former President Gloria Arroyo's earlier remark that Aquino's arbitration suit had provoked China, which in a show of protest, began building structures on islets and outcrops in disputed Spratlys.

"This submission to the international tribunal under the United Nations to me is a correct step. We must protest not only directly to the country involved but also to the United Nations for any violations of United Nations Covenant on international law," Ramos told reporters after the launch of his commemorative book.

Mrs. Arroyo, now a House lawmaker representing  Pampanga, as well as her lawyer Estrelito Mendoza on Thursday claimed that Aquino provoked China into building artificial islands. 

“That [provocation] turned out to be a very significant event to China. Because China now has stated categorically and explicitly that its island-building factory … was provoked by the arbitral claim in the Philippines,” Mendoza said.

“So in effect ... we seemed to be winning in The Hague—but China outflanked us ... while we were winning in The Hague, China was winning in the waters of the South China Sea,” he added.

Ramos agreed with Arroyo that the submission of the case might have actually provoked China.

"...The submission of the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea is correct and, well, it may have provoked actions by China to reclaim this [and] that, and the protest must be addressed to China...I agree with her ... she is correct but that is not the proper target," said Ramos, referring to Arroyo's remark. 

President Rodrigo Duterte had appointed Ramos as a special envoy tasked to thaw Philippines-China relations amid tensions stemming from overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea.

But Ramos resigned, saying that he has done his job to "break the ice and to help restore the ties of goodwill and friendship."

Manila under Aquino filed complaint over China's excessive claims in the South China Sea. 

Beijing claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims apart from the Philippines.

The international tribunal court based in The Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines in numerous areas, saying China's "nine-dash line" denoting its maritime sovereignty claims has no basis. It also declared the Scarborough Shoal a traditional fishing ground that all claimants were entitled to exploit. —LBG, GMA ANews