Chinese military presence not a valid title of SCS ownership -- Palace

Any Chinese military presence in the disputed South China Sea will “never ripen" into a valid title of ownership of the territory, Malacañang asserted Thursday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque explained that the Hague-based arbitration court already issued a ruling in favor of the Philippines in the territorial dispute with China.

According to Roque, the arbitral ruling, that rejected China's nine-dash line claims over the territory, has become part of an international law that cannot be erased.

"Nandiyan na ang panalong 'yan at hindi natin 'yan babalewalain. Kahit anong sabihin ng kahit sino na hindi nila kikilalanin ang desisyon na 'yan, ang katotohanan, I go back to Article 38 of the ICJ (International Court of Justice) charter, 'yan ay ebidensya ng existence of a customary norm at hindi na pupuwedeng burahin (The victory already exists and we cannot ignore it. Regardless of what anyone says that they won’t recognize the decision, the truth is, I go back to Article 38 of the ICJ Charter, that it is evidence of the existence of a customary norm. That cannot be erased)," he said during a televised press briefing.

"Ang tinutukoy ng ating Presidente na kahit anong physical military occupation nila sa mga isla na ang sabi naman ng tribunal ay kabahagi ng ating exclusive economic zone, will never ripen into a valid legal title (The President states that whatever physical military occupation they have in the islands, which the tribunal ruled are part of our exclusive economic zone, will never ripen into a valid legal title)," he said.

On the presence of Chinese coast guard ships near the country's exclusive economic zone, Roque recognized that the country recognizes the freedom of navigation. He noted that the passage of ships along the South China Sea was not illegal.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly for the first time, President Duterte has raised the country's legal victory against China in the dispute over the South China Sea. The President said the arbitral award was now part of international law and that the government would reject any attempt to undermine it.

He said the arbitral ruling, issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016, was "beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon." The court ruling, he added, indicated the "triumph of reason over rashness, of law over disorder, of amity over ambition."

Four years ago, the Hague-based tribunal ruled that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the South China Sea areas falling within the so-called nine-dash line. It also found that China supposedly violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by interfering with Filipino fishing and petroleum exploration and building artificial islands.

Beijing has refused to accept the ruling and instead sustain its expansion in the area. China has overlapping claims with the Philippines and other nations on the ownership of the South China Sea.

The Philippines has chosen to set aside the contentious territorial dispute and focus on enhancing cooperative ties with China for the meantime.