Carpio’s, Del Rosario’s suspicious silence on Sabah

During the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and ex-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario were very vocal in their criticism of the way President Duterte was handling the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing concerning the West Philippine Sea. In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international tribunal based in The Netherlands, upheld the rights of the Philippines over vast areas of the West Philippine Sea against China’s contrary assertion.

Right after that ruling came out, Carpio and Del Rosario repeatedly badgered the newly-minted President Duterte into enforcing Manila’s win against China’s expansionist activities in the West Philippine Sea. They practically wanted President Duterte to wage war against China over the disputed area. Aware that the Philippines cannot win a shooting war against China, the pragmatic and realistic President Duterte opted for quiet diplomacy while currying world opinion on the side of the Philippines.

Back then, Carpio was still a member of the Supreme Court. Despite the ban against members of the judiciary from intruding in the exclusive concerns of the Executive branch of the government, Carpio went on a nationwide speaking tour to publicize what he thinks President Duterte should do about the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

There is no indication if Carpio was on official leave from the Supreme Court when he appeared at those engagements. Even if he was on official leave, his public comments against President Duterte’s foreign policy while he was still in the judiciary violate the principle of separation of powers enshrined in Philippine Constitutional Law.

Moreover, the President of the Philippines is the sole architect of the country’s foreign policy, a responsibility he does not share with the legislature or the judiciary.

Probably, Del Rosario badly wanted publicity as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs during whose watch the Philippines filed the arbitration case against China, but which the Philippines won in July 2016 when he was no longer in office.

Carpio and Del Rosario’s political colors became obvious in 2021 when they organized the ill-fated 1Sambayan, an unpopular “convenor group” which unilaterally assumed the right to anoint a single candidate to run against Bongbong Marcos in the May 2022 presidential elections. 1Sambayan is now a nuisance of the past, a useless chapter in recent Philippine political history.

Last February, the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu won their case against Malaysia’s illegal claim to Sabah in a Paris-based international court. The tribunal recognized the ownership rights of the heirs over Sabah, and awarded them $14.9 billion in damages. In June 2022, the heirs began enforcing the judgment in their favor against Malaysian assets all over the world.

Although Sabah belongs to the Philippines by historic right and legal title, Malaysia, which currently occupies Sabah, has been insisting since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 that it owns Sabah. The Philippine government, therefore, should give its full support to the heirs of the sultanate so the Philippines can finally recover Sabah from Malaysia.

Malaysia, however, is resorting to all possible dilatory tactics to fight off the heirs.

Surprisingly, while Carpio and Del Rosario were very vocal about what Manila should do against

China concerning the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, they are now suspiciously silent about this recent development in the Sabah issue.

It’s been six months since the Paris court ruled in favor of the heirs of the sultanate in the Sabah issue, and Carpio and Del Rosario have kept quiet on the matter. Why?

Observers suspect that Carpio’s former law firm and Del Rosario’s private think tank have several big Malaysian clients, and that it is possible that the 1Sambayan duo are afraid to lose those clients if they speak up against Malaysia on the Sabah issue.

It looks like there is a limit to the “nationalism” professed by these two self-styled “nationalists.”

“Carpio and Del Rosario practically wanted President Duterte to wage war against China over the disputed area.

“Observers suspect that Carpio’s former law firm and Del Rosario’s private think tank have several big Malaysian clients.