Jardeleza urges immediate filing of new case vs China over environmental damage in WPS

Former Supreme Court justice Francis Jardeleza on Friday urged the Marcos administration to file a second case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in connection with the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue, this time to claim for damages.

In an interview on Dobol B TV, Jardeleza, a former solicitor general who was a part of the team that brought the country's arbitration case against China before the PCA, explained that the 2016 ruling by The Hague favoring the Philippines could be the foundation for the second case.

The former SC justice said that the 2016 ruling had already declared the Philippine jurisdiction over WPS, and that all reclamation activities made by China there were illegal.

"Ang kulang na lang ay danyos...We have to make a decision. Hindi tayo humingi ng danyos [sa unang case]," he said.

(What is missing is damages... We have to make a decision. We didn't ask for damages in the first case.)

He cited as an example the Mischief Reef, which is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but is currently occupied by China.

"Klaro sa arbitral award na mali ang ginawa ng Tsina. Ngayon, palagi kong sinasabi, dapat huminhi tayo ng danyos. Hindi man natin mabawi physically ang Mischief Reef, at least, magbayad ang Tsina ng malaking kapansanan na ginawa niya sa environment," he said.

(It is clear in the arbitral award that China is wrong. As I've always said, we should seek for damages. We may not recover Mischief Reef physically, at least China must pay for what they did to the environment.)

Jardeleza said the estimated amount of damages that the Philippines should claim from China is about P216 billion.

But the former SC justice believes that the amount had already ballooned as there are claims for the damages incurred before the 2016 arbitral ruling and there are more after.

Should the Philippines win this proposed case before the PCA against China, Jardeleza said the government will have to execute it against the assets of the Chinese government.

In September last year, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said they are considering filing a new complaint against China before the PCA over the reported damage to corals in the WPS.

The Department of Justice has also recommended the filing of cases against China concerning instances of extensive coral harvesting in the WPS.

The Philippines first filed a complaint against China in 2013 for its massive claims in the South China Sea under its nine-dash line claim.

In 2016, the PCA ruled in favor of the Philippines, invalidated Beijing's claim, and said that its nine-dash line has no legal basis under international law.

China, however, refuses to recognize the ruling. —KBK, GMA Integrated News