PAGBABAGO
Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid
It is about time for us, all Filipino citizens, to take a united stand on the West Philippine Sea, and demand that our leaders do the same.
Our confused state, the mixed messages we send, and flip-flopping from President Duterte has set us back in our advocacy. We have wasted time and resources that should have been committed in the pursuit of our goal if our leaders had been single-minded in their advocacy.
In this timeline, are actions and statements made by Manila and Beijing during the months of April and May, 2021:
April 5: Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana accuses Beijing of planning to occupy more “features” in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) with reports that a fleet of 220 Chinese ships in the area. This sparked a diplomatic row with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filing several protests. Manila had asked Beijing to withdraw its “maritime militia” vessels which China had refused, insisting they were fishing boats.
April 5-30: Chinese vessels now 287, swarm Julian Felipe Reef. Tensions flared.
April 19: President Duterte said we can retake the area only by force. Violence may erupt if the Philippines continue to assert its rights. He would only send warships to “stake a claim” if China starts drilling for oil or taking away other resources. “I will send my grey ships to stake a claim,” he said.
May 5: Chinese ships leave Sabrina Shoal, near Palawan after they were challenged by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels.
May 3: Both DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called on China to respect Philippine rights; Locsin made phone calls to other counterparts including the US, the country’s defense treaty ally. Locsin tells China: “How politely can I put it. Let me see. O, get the f xxx out.”
May 6: President Duterte challenges former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio to a debate on the West Philippine Sea; Carpio accepts the challenge saying he will debate on the factual accuracy and adverse implications of the president’s repeated claim that China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea. The Philippine Bar Association offers to host the debate.
May 6: President Duterte: Of the arbitral ruling: Just a scrap of paper. Will throw it in the wastebasket.
May 8: President Duterte backs out of debate and assigns Harry Roque to take his place. “Why debate with an ordinary lawyer,” he said.
May 10: Justice Carpio to the President: Retract dangerous statements if you don’t want them to be taken as policy. They can be considered betrayal of public trust. He also pointed to President Duterte’s 2018 statement that Chinese President Xi Jinping had promised to protect him for any ouster attempts.
May 14: President Duterte says “No” to withdrawal of ships from contested waters.
May 14: Justice Carpio launches an online petition urging President Duterte to take back his statements that he deemed detrimental, statements that are contrary to the Constitution – (1) That the July 12, 2016 Arbitral Award is just a scrap of paper that deserves to be thrown to the wastebasket; (2) The Chinese fishermen can fish in the Philippines exclusive zone in the West Philippine Sea: (3) That China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea.
May 15: People in Los Angeles, California demonstrate, urging action on the West Philippine Sea
May 18: President Duterte issues a gag order on the West Philippine Sea to all cabinet members. Only spokesperson Harry Roque and DFA Secretary Locsin are authorized to issue statements.
It will be remembered that in September 2020, President Duterte had told world leaders at the United Nation’s 75th General Assembly that the Philippines would reject all attempts to undermine the 2016 Hague ruling that affirmed the country’s rights in the South China Sea. He said: “The Award embodied the majesty of the law as it stood for triumph of reason over rashness, of law over disorder, or amity over ambition.”
When reminded about his 2016 campaign to ride a jet ski to the WPS, he said it was a “pure campaign joke and it is stupid for people to believe it.
“Consistency in our stand is needed, former DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario and Carpio emphasized.
Judge Stanislaw Pawlak of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea noted that efforts to assert the 2016 ruling and its merits would aid not just the Philippines but China in the long run. General international law has no police, no prison. But it is a kind of long-term interest. It is better for countries to exercise reciprocity as in the long run, economic and security interests would prevail.
FEU Dean of Law, Mel Sta. Maria gives this useful advice: Duterte must prove China wrong. He must warn China to restore Philippine honor and to galvanize concerns of many countries into one objective: To stop China’s aggression.
My email, florangel.braid@gmail.com