ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Rodriguez says PH should go back to arbitration court, seek 'relief, damages' vs China

Rodriguez says PH should go back to arbitration court, seek 'relief, damages' vs China

Published Aug 23, 2023 07:40 am

At A Glance

  • Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez prodded the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to study the possible filing of a "petition for ancillary relief" before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in connection with China's continued "bullying" in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). 

FB_IMG_1663259461086.jpg

Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)

"Let's go back to where we have won."

Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez prodded the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to study the possible filing of a "petition for ancillary relief" before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in connection with China's continued "bullying" in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

This, as Rodriguez thumbed down a proposed resolution of the case at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

"I would like to put in P10 more million for that task force [of the OSG] so they will just have to study and advise the President on what to do with this. Not United Nations, we are to lose there but we go back to where we have won," the Mindanaoan said on Wednesday, Aug. 23.

Rodriguez was referring to the PCA, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. In July 2016, the international court ruled in favor of the Philippines in its case against China's expansive maritime claims.

The PCA ruling invalidated Beijing's nine-dash-line claim, which crosses Philippine territorial waters.

Rodriguez brought up the matter during the House Committee on Appropriations' deliberation on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, who is part of the DOJ family, took part in the hearing.

"I’d like to posit my view that we cannot win in the [UNGA] because China has so many client states. So, therefore the best remedy and I’d like to get the study and the opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the best way is to go back to the Arbitral Tribunal, where we have won on July 12, 2016, and that is for a new petition for ancillary relief, provisional remedies, and damages," Rodriguez said.

The veteran solon said he will move at the proper time in the ongoing House budget process to add a P10-million budget to the OSG to aid them in its study, "in view of the continuous violation of the bully[ing] of China".

"We are very much aware about the proposal to bring the matter to the [UNGA], which is a very political forum, and also a similar proposal to have a second round of arbitration with the permanent court of arbitration, but these are matters that have to be studied very carefully by the [OSG] as counsel for the Republic, because this may have very, very serious and important implications," replied Guevarra.

At any rate, the Solicitor General acknowledged that there have been "subsisting problems even after that victory in the arbitration court".

"Right now we are in the midst of this study, just as we did a similar study in connection with the arbitral award in favor of the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu in connection with our sovereign claim over Sabah," Guevarra said.

"We will do a similar extensive study in connection with the [WPS], and definitely we will also consult Congress in connection with any future action that we may take, because this involves also our foreign relations," he told Rodriguez.

Related Tags

solicitor general Permanent Court of Arbitration Rufus Rodriguez west philippine sea
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.