On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in favor of the Philippines’ claims in the West Philippine Sea, foreign policy, international law, and maritime security experts are urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold the legacy ruling.
The independent international and strategic research organization Stratbase ADR Institute will hold a virtual forum themed “Redefining Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in an Age of Uncertainty” on Tuesday, July 12, to mark the sixth year anniversary of the huge Philippine win against China.
Professor Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit, president of the institute, said experts will tackle the ruling and discuss how the Philippines can develop capabilities to secure the country’s maritime jurisdiction and achieve stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez will deliver the keynote address.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, a United Nations body based in The Hague, the Netherlands, ruled in the Philippines’ favor on July 12, 2016 and said China’s claims of a nine-dash line had no basis.
“We must not allow China’s blatant disregard of the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). The Filipino people deserve a government that prioritizes the security and welfare of its citizens before others,” said Manhit.
“We must unceasingly uphold the legacy of the 2016 arbitral ruling and our leaders should step up in unified action to defend the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
The UN decision, however, came at the start of the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who refrained from asserting the legal victory and reduced it to the argument that the country would never win a war against a giant neighbor.
Other speakers at the event include international geopolitical experts: Lisa Curtis, Director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program and Senior Fellow for the Center for a New American Security (Revitalizing the Alliance through Strategic Autonomy and Rules-Based System), Murray Hiebert, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Aligning Indo-Pacific Strategies for the China Challenge), Dr. Renato de Castro, Stratbase ADRI Trustee and Program Convenor (A Roadmap of Philippine Foreign Policy: Prospects for further Indo-Pacific Presence), and RADM. Rommel Jude Ong, Executive Director, Security Reform Initiative (Contextualizing the Philippines’ Defense Posture today in the Indo-Pacific Region).
H.E. Jana Sediva, Ambassador of the Czech Republic (Developing the EU Defense Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific for Maritime Capacity Building), and Alistair White, Deputy Head of Mission of the British Embassy in the Philippines (Building on the UK Security Strategy in the Indo-Pacific towards Maritime Cooperation) are panelist from the diplomatic community.
From the academe are: Yusuke Takagi, Associate Professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Japanese Maritime Diplomacy: Maintaining the Freedom of the Indo-Pacific Waters), John Blaxland, Professor of International Security & Intelligence Studies Australia National University (Elevating Australia’s Maritime Security Relations in line with Current and Emerging Threats).
Manhit noted that the presence of speakers from different regions shows the need for the support of allies and like- minded countries in pursuing a just order in the Indo-Pacific.
It is not only the national government that could uphold sovereignty and territorial integrity, Manhit said. “We should foster multi-lateral, inclusive cooperation through alliances and strategic partnerships.”
“Already, there is a strong aggrupation of support from like-minded states to counter threats from China or other traditional and non-traditional security challenges that the Philippines should align with,” Manhit added.
In a special study, A Responsive and Strategic Foreign Policy Outlook in an Interconnected and Multipolar World, launched earlier this year, Manhit said the current Philippine leader must craft a responsive and strategic foreign policy to reverse the losses caused by the flippant policy of the Duterte administration.
“We need a more responsive and strategic foreign policy that would implement a clear, cohesive, and consistent foreign policy direction and develop the country's comprehensive power according to its military, economic, scientific, and cultural capabilities,” he said.
Our territorial right in the West Philippine Sea is no longer just a claim, he continued.
“After July 2016, or when the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in our favor, that claim became a right given to us under a rules-based international system. Our arbitral win defines from a point of view of international law, what is ours and what does not exist which is the nine-dash line. So, I just hope we learn from all this, and part of that also is let's not get drawn into that argument that we are stuck between a choice of China and the United States.”
Finally, Manhit said that this is the perfect opportunity for President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to establish that he is much different from his immediate predecessor in the critical areas of foreign policy and maritime security.
“He did, after all, promise that he would rely on the rule of law to assert our position and jurisdiction,” Manhit said.