FINDING ANSWERS
Former Senator
Atty. Joey Lina
The pursuit of a “public diplomacy campaign” spearheaded by the Department of Foreign Affairs to bolster and sustain awareness on the implications of the historic arbitral ruling on the South China Sea is certainly a step in the right direction.
It ought to solidify local and international support for the 2016 landmark Arbitral Award that recognized the sovereign rights of the Philippines to exclusively explore and develop the natural resources in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The DFA campaign, made known last Friday at a Senate hearing, aims to “secure the backing of other nations and to compel claimants to the South China Sea to respect dispute mechanisms under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”
Many hope that the public diplomacy campaign will provide answers to many nagging questions that I posed in my previous column commemorating our Independence Day, amid the back-to-back diplomatic protests lodged against China and the need for answers on what more should be done to get respect for our sovereignty and national dignity.
How can we overcome our seeming helplessness to stop the continued transgressions of China in our EEZ? What efforts should be exerted towards the enforcement of the Arbitral Award? How much longer can we endure all the insolence and bullying?
We must never lose sight of the fact that future generations of Filipinos deserve and are entitled to the benefits of our patrimony – WPS is rich in fish, oil, gas and other mineral and aquatic resources worth several trillions of dollars when explored and developed.
We must exhaust all possible means to conserve and develop our patrimony, without resorting to war. Indeed, the significance of Philippine Independence Day commemorated every June 12 should inspire us to do so. Because our forefathers fought off powerful invaders, we who are beneficiaries of their sacrifices and victories ought to do no less.
Because our country has not yet attained sufficient military strength to fend off a superpower that continues encroaching in Philippine waters, all we can do is to wage an all-out public relations campaign to get extensive worldwide support for our cause.
And Sen. Robin Padilla is absolutely right when he said recently that the DFA “needs to refine its publicity efforts regarding the government’s efforts on the West Philippine Sea” and to make Filipinos understand the benefits we are entitled to in the WPS.
Indeed, Filipinos and the rest of the world need to be aware of the significance of the Arbitral Award which declared as baseless the 9-dash line claim of China in practically the entire South China Sea, including over 3/4 of the WPS.
The world needs to be aware that the Award determined that China violated UNCLOS and the Philippines’ sovereign rights in WPS by massive fishing, bullying of Filipino fishermen, environmental destruction, and building artificial islands with airport and seaports, conducting maritime surveys, among others.
Unfortunately, UNCLOS has no enforcement mechanism. Bilateral talks with China to enforce the Award have proven ineffective. And all the hundreds of diplomatic protests have not stopped China’s incursions.
Thus, it is necessary to resort to other measures. The Alliance for Life and the Law of the Sea which I helped form in 2021 has proposed a unified, multi-pronged, and whole-of-country strategy to fight off transgressions in the WPS. The DFA campaign can certainly be a major part of the strategy.
The strategy also calls for our civil society organizations to educate members on the significance of the EEZ, UNCLOS, and the Award through webinars, symposia, and town hall meetings organized at regional, provincial, city, town, and barangay levels, in cooperation with local government units.
CSOs must also form alliances with international counterparts to enlist support for our cause, leading to the creation of a Global Alliance for Life and the Law of the Seas.
Also, the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education must include the WPS, EEZ, UNCLOS and the Arbitral Award as part of a mandatory study on the Philippine Constitution in high school and college, to ensure that Filipinos, including future generations, are more aware of Philippine territory and national patrimony.
Indeed, with fortitude and determination, we can confront the formidable challenge to our sovereignty and sovereign rights by embarking on these measures to let everyone know the significance of the historic Award and to garner worldwide support for our cause.
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