Diplomatic protest necessary to maintain control in disputed waters, says SC candidate

A candidate for a spot on the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said that the Philippines must actively fight for its rights to West Philippine Sea territories that China has allegedly intruded upon.

"Our not filing a diplomatic protest may be taken as a concession to say that China has now begun to get your maritime rights because of the inaction," former Ateneo Law Dean Cesar Villanueva said during the public panel interview of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

"[In] reality, we cannot overcome the power of China, but that's what diplomacy is all about: to be able to defeat a more powerful enemy [with] diplomacy because other countries are watching."

Villanueva was responding to a question posed by JBC ex-officio chair and acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio about Sandy Cay, a strip of sandbars near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island, the control over which — critics claim — have been lost to China during President Rodrigo Duterte's term.

Villanueva—one of six candidates vying to replace Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco, Jr., who will retire in August—said international pressure will eventually force China to settle the matter in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration's awarding of the waters to the Philippines.

Villianueva also believes that the Philippines filed diplomatic protests against movements by China.

Amid accusations of inaction, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano insisted that the administration had filed "several dozens" of protests against China's actions, but has chosen not to publicize them.

He also said that the Philippines was accomplishing a lot in its bilateral talks with China.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also denied reports that the Philippines has lost Sandy Cay to China. — BM/MDM, GMA News