Treñas slams Chinese envoy anew: ‘I felt insulted’
ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry P. Treñas yesterday slammed anew Chinese Consul General Zhang Zhen for downplaying t he arbitral award t hat validated the Philippines’ sovereign rights on the West Philippine Sea.
In his press conference, Treñas said he felt insulted at the statements issued by Zhang who labeled as “illegal and void” the tribunal’s arbitral award to the Philippines and that China “has and will never accept it.”
“Kon kabalo lang ako nga amo na panghambalon niya, wala ko na siya gin-imbitar. Sus, ako pa nagpirma sang imbitasyon para sa iya,” the mayor said.
In the press conference during her visit to Iloilo City for the Chinese New Year, Zhang said that China’s rights and interests in the territorial claim in the South China Sea “are deeply grounded in the historical facts and the international law.”
“There are some things that are sacred to us. The issue of the West Philippine Sea was already decided by the international court. The West Philippine Sea is already part of our map,” said Treñas.
He added: “It is not good because you are just our visitor. You know, you are a diplomat, you should not have said that. If you are a diplomat, wala ka ga pangaway.”
The Depar t ment o f Foreign Affairs ( DFA) had also criticized Zhang for belittling the arbitral award that validated the Philippines’ sovereign rights on the West Philippine Sea.
“We take serious exception to China’ s continued mis representation of the law and the facts. The Philippines and China are both parties to UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea),” DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said.
“We have and will consistently call on China to act responsibly and abide by its obligations under UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea,” Zada said.
She continued, “We have and will consistently call on China to act responsibly and abide by its obligations under UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea.”
Zhang also provided Panay News with a 41-page press briefer outlining China’s legal and historical evidence on the key waterway “to get to the root of the issue and set the record straight.”
The briefer states that China adheres to settling the maritime dispute through “negotiation” and “peaceful consultation” with the other countries having territorial disputes with Beijing.
In 2016, the international tribunal up held the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea, or known as Scarborough Shoal.
The PCA, a non- United Nations international organization based in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that China’s claim of historic rights to resources within its so-called nine-dash line had no basis in law.
Various groups have been advocating asserting the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea following the 2016 Hague ruling. Among those who actively advocate for enforcing the Arbitral Award is retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza, who is a native of Iloilo City.
In 2021, Jardeleza wrote a letter urging former President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent Republic Act (RA) 9522, or the Philippine Maritime Features of the West Philippine Sea Act, to enforce the arbitral award that the Philippines won in its West Philippine Sea disputes with China.
The proposed baseline law aims to specifically name and identify the maritime features in the West Philippine Sea claimed or occupied by the country. Jardeleza said the proposed law will amend Republic Act 9522, the current baseline law.
He stressed the urgency in passing the bill he labeled “the most inexpensive and yet most effective means of enforcing t he Arbitral Award and strengthening our territorial and maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea.”
Duterte had his office review t he proposal by the Office of the Executive Secretary’s legal office on the proposed amendments to RA 9522./