Tolentino: China has no right to veto proposed PH Maritime Zone Law

China has no right to veto the proposed Philippine Maritime Zone Law or a measure declaring the Philippines’ rights and entitlements over its maritime zones, including underwater features, the law's author and principal sponsor said Wednesday.

"Wala pong karapatan ang China na i-veto ang Philippine Maritime Zone Law na kapapasa lang ng Senado," Senator Francis Tolentino said in an interview over Dobol B TV.

"Karapatan po nating bumalangkas ng batas sang-ayon sa international law at sa arbitral ruling. 'Yung kanila, walang angkla sa batas internasyonal. Ito pong atin ay nakasalig sa international law," he added.

(China has no right to veto Philippine Maritime Zone Law that was recently passed by the Senate. It is our right to pass laws based on international laws and the arbitral ruling. China's claims are not anchored on international laws, unlike ours.)

Tolentino said this in response to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning's statement saying  the Philippine Senate has "attempted to further enforce the illegal arbitral award on the South China Sea by domestic legislation."

In a statement, Tolentino said the inclusion of the 2016 Arbitral Ruling in the proposed law "is not only legitimate but imperative" as it reaffirms the Philippines' commitment to upholding international law.

"Any objections from China must be met with unwavering defense of our sovereign rights and adherence to lawful arbitration outcomes. Attempts by China to challenge this landmark law are futile and will not deter us from vigorously upholding our rights under international law," he said.

Tolentino chairs a special Senate committee which will tackle measures relating to baselines, maritime zones, archipelagic sea lanes, and other matters relevant to the protection of Philippine territory.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in July 2016 upheld the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippines Sea. It also recognized that Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, and Recto (Reed) Bank were located within the Philippines' EEZ, as provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

The same Hague-based court also junked China's expansive claim of having sovereignty over the entirety of the South China Sea, but Beijing has been adamant in ignoring the court ruling.

Tolentino earlier said that the Philippine Maritime Zones bill, once passed into law, will be forwarded to the UNCLOS.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros slammed the statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, saying, "no other sovereign country has the right to intervene in our legislative affairs."

"The Senate will carry on with the enactment of the Maritime Zones Act...China is the only nation that deludes herself into thinking that the Arbitral Award is illegal," she said.

Amid the latest water cannon incident in the WPS which injured four Filipino personnel, Tolentino reiterated his call for the Philippine government to recall the country's ambassador to the People's Republic of China.

"Inuulit ko ang hiling ko dati, 'wag muna siya paalisin. Recall temporarily si Ambassador [Jaime FlorCruz] sa ating bansa," Tolentino said.

Tolentino said the latest incident against Filipinos in the WPS was "unacceptable." He said the Philippines must consolidate the reports on the incidents provoked by China in the WPS so it could be brought to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

In a press conference, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri condemned China's latest aggressive action against Filipino personnel in the WPS.

"We totally, strongly condemn what transpired yesterday sa pag-water cannon dito sa ating mga tropa na naghahatid lang po ng supplies sa BRP Sierra Madre," Zubiri said.

"We demand that the Chinese government stop all these violent activities, all these provocative activities in the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea," he added.

Zubiri said China is intensifying the atmosphere of fear and violence in WPS, which the Philippines is trying to de-escalate.

"Isang aksidente lang at kung nagkaroon tayo ng aksidente na lumubog ang isa sa ating mga barko, I don't know, only God can know what can happen...Kasi ayaw po natin ng gulo. We don't want a conflict with China. That's the last thing that we want to happen," he said.

Zubiri reiterated the need for a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

"This is not their backyard where they can just do whatever they want and bully whoever they want," he ended.

Apart from Zubiri, Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Grace Poe, JV Ejercito, and Hontiveros issued statements on the latest incident in the Ayungin Shoal. —KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News