Former DFA chief sees hope in enforcing WPS ruling
Claiming that the former administration did nothing but to appease China, former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario sees renewed hopes for the Philippines in its continuing fight to assert the country’s rights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In a statement yesterday on the sixth anniversary of the 2016 Arbitral Ruling in The Hague, Del Rosario said President Marcos “is given a rare opportunity by the nation to do what is right, protect our patrimony and help the Filipino people.”
“The 2016 Arbitral Award is an emblem of pride for the Filipino as it recognizes our national patrimony in our waters and affirms that the vast resources therein belong to the Filipino people. Securing the 2016 Arbitral Award had been an arduous fight for our people, and it is the solemn constitutional mandate of our leaders to uphold and enforce the Award,” he said.
He complained that during the past six years of the Duterte administration, the government “tragically pursued a policy of appeasing China, in exchange for economic benefits that never materialized.”
But with a new administration, Del Rosario said there is renewed hope considering how Marcos declared on May 26 that “our sovereignty is sacred and we will not compromise it in any way” and “we will not allow a single square millimeter of our maritime coastal... rights to be trampled upon.”
“We have a very important ruling in our favor. We will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It’s not a claim, it is already our territorial right and that is what the arbitral ruling can do to help us,” Marcos was quoted by the former Cabinet official as saying.
Del Rosario said he fully supports this position and believes that this is the best position that serves the interests of the Filipino people.
He also praised the appointment of Enrique Manalo as foreign affairs secretary whom he said is a career diplomat with decades of proven experience in the complexities of foreign affairs.
“If the position taken by President Marcos Jr. is fully pursued, then we respectfully proffer our modest means to help the new administration achieve its declared objective in enforcing the rights of the Filipino people in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
Offering help, Del Rosario gave several suggestions that the Marcos administration should consider, including consistently raising the Award before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and sponsoring a UN resolution showing the support of other countries in enforcing the Award.
“We believe that the Award has the support of the international community which believes in the Rule of Law. The Award benefits the coastal States of the South China Sea (i.e., Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei), whose lands and seas are encroached upon by China’s nine-dash line. The Award also benefits the rest of the other countries in the world like the United States, the European Union and Japan because it upholds international law and affirms the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea,” he stressed.
Del Rosario said the government should also strengthen the country’s means to defend Philippine waters and enforce the Award, by developing a minimum credible defense posture which is why “we welcome our country’s acquisition of BrahMos missiles, which are meant to protect Filipino rights in our waters. We respectfully submit that the administration of President Marcos Jr. should continue to support this defense project.”
According to him, more joint patrols should be conducted in the South China Sea with the country’s security partners so as to enforce the country’s maritime zones and protect Filipino soldiers who are selflessly guarding areas in West Philippine Sea, such as those in Pag-Asa and Ayungin Shoal.
“We should strengthen our security alliances, especially the 1951 US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty or MDT, which the US declared as applicable in the South China Sea as part of the Pacific and, therefore, includes the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
Del Rosario likewise advised Marcos that given unprecedented inflation and that a major source of the country’s energy in the Malampaya gas field will run out in the next few years, “it is imperative for our country to find new energy sources, while remaining steadfast in upholding our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, as embodied in the Award.”