PH has 'big chances' if 2nd West Philippine Sea arbitration case filed —Jardeleza

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza on Monday expressed optimism for the Philippines should the government file a new arbitration case against China over the continued presence of Chinese assets in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Jardeleza, a former solicitor general who was part of the team that brought the country's arbitration case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013, said that the strength of the Philippines’ possible new case would come from its 2016 victory.

“Malaki ang chances natin (we have big chances),” he said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

“Ang kaigihan, ang strength, o ang lakas ng kaso natin ay magmula doon sa una nating ipinanalo. So mali po ‘yung haka-haka na baka matalo pa tayo. Paaano ka matatalo eh nanalo na tayo sa unang kaso,” he added.

(The strength of our case would come from our first victory. So the speculation that we might lose is wrong. How can you lose when we already won the first case?)

Jardeleza described the possible new legal challenge against China as a “follow-up case.”

He thus urged the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to make the move, considering that the President made a commitment that the the Philippines will not give up an inch of its territory, including the West Philippine Sea.

“All parts of government should take part. Ang ginagawa ng gobyerno ngayon ay tama—pinapalakas natin ang Sandatahang Lakas natin, whatever we have, but hindi sapat. Tapos ang spokesman natin ay sinasabayan ang mga sinasabi ng Tsina,” he said.

(All parts of the government should take part. What the government is doing now is right—we are strengthening our Armed Forces, whatever we have, but it is not enough. Then our spokesperson is not standing down against what China is saying.)

“Subalit ang kulang lang ang pagdulog ng kaso. Ngayon, bakit ba ayaw ng administrasyon na mag-file ng kaso? Kaso lang ‘yun eh,” he added.

(But the only thing missing is the filing of the case. Now why does the administration not want to file a case? It's just a case.)

Alleged Chinese floating structure spotted in Bajo de Masinloc. Photos from PCG

On Saturday, maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said a filing of a new case is already being studied and pushed by the academe.

Similar to the first arbitration case, the proposed case centers on Bajo de Masinloc after a Chinese floating platform was discovered in the area.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said the structure was first detected through satellite imagery and maritime domain awareness operations conducted in May.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has refused to recognize the decision. —KG, GMA News