A resolution seeking to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Philippine’s historic legal victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague has been filed in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, author of Senate Resolution No. 769, said the country’s victory at The Hague is considered one of the lasting legacies of the late President Benigno Aquino III’s administration.

“The Philippines’ victory at the Hague should be a lasting reminder that the Filipino is never cowed or daunted, that false promiss of economic largesse and military might will not serve to defeat what is right, and that our claims should be valiantly and relentlessly fought for, to ensure that future generations can benefit from the bounty of what is legally ours,” Drilon said in filing the resolution.

Drilon said the monumental arbitral award, promulgated two weeks after the term of President Aquinoi, was also hailed as a victory not just for the Philippines but also for other coastal states.

The resolution also urges the Philippine government to rally other nations in calling for compliance to the landmark award and maintaing a peaceful and diplomatic assertion of the arbitral award.

“International law is a mechanism which allows smaller states, despite lack of military prowess, to stand on equal footing with wealthier, more powerful states, which the Philippines has aptly and bravely utilized without having to incite war when it brought China to court in 2013,” the senator stressed.

Sen. Grace Poe echoed Drilon’s call saying the Duterte government should make use of the country’s victory in the tribunal to undertake a determined, focused and unflinching defense of the country’s maritime entitlements and jurisdiction.

Poe also noted much is at stake in the huge maritime area that is rich in fish, oil, gas and other natural resources.

“We should be relentless in pursuing the peaceful path to exercise our rights, with the support of the international community...Government leaders may come and go, but this would not alter the arbitral ruling, which is our victory and pride,” Poe stressed.

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, for his part, noted that the Philippines has yet to come up with a comprehensive pro –Filipino policy to complete the country’s victory that was achieved five years ago today.

Lacson, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, said much remains to be done amid China’s increasing presence and the country needs a foreign policy that is neither pro-China or pro-US.

“It must only be pro-Filipino. We need a foreign policy that unites us as Filipinos, not divides us into red and yellow,” Lacson said.

“It is wrong to assume that there are only two ways to secure the West Philippine Sea—war or silence. Between war and timidity, there is the Arbitral ruling. Let us stop snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” he said.

“An opportunity exists to work with other countries, especially those in the ASEAN region, to find a way for us to effectively invoke the verdict we won in The Hague,” the senator stressed.