Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, July 13 pressed Malacañang to denounce the Chinese official who described the Philippines’ victory in The Hague as a “piece of waste paper.”
“Malacañang should denounce China’s statement. It is long overdue,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“It is disturbing to read that China’s position of relegating our 2016 victory to ‘waste paper’ is similar to how President Duterte described this award. The words that come out of the President’s mouth should echo the sentiment of the Filipino public, not of China,” she stressed.
Hontiveros has repeatedly called on the President to retract the very same statement he said denouncing the Hague's ruling as a "piece of paper" and said she is still waiting until now.
“He cannot abandon his duty to represent and fight for the best interest of the Philippines. He owes every Filipino that,” she reiterated.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian was earlier quoted describing the country’s 2016 Hague victory as “nothing more than a piece of waste paper” and that the landmark case won by the Philippines is “illegal, null, and void.”
Hontiveros said China should remember that it is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) so she has to abide by the same rules as other nations do.
“On what planet does he think China is? The entire world has accepted and honored this landmark legal decision. The Arbitral Award has made it clear that China’s nine-dash-line claim has neither historic nor legal basis as China cannot exceed what nations are entitled to under UNCLOS,” she said.
“China is a signatory to the UNCLOS, so she has to play by the same rules as everyone else. She stands alone against the global consensus on the issue,” the senator pointed out.
The opposition senator said it is high-time Beijing’s leadership stops contorting international law, which member-nations should abide by, just because it is not in her favor.
“Beijing should also stop lying through her teeth. It is unfortunate that five long years since our triumph, China has still not come to her senses. The entire globe is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and it had been hoped that we would be more reflective about how we live and more especially, how we nations live together,” Hontiveros noted.
“Amid a health and economic crisis, China’s behavior vis-a-vis the West Philippine Sea has only been obstructive, devoid of respect for our sovereign country,” she said.