China remains mum on the possibility that the Philippines would file another arbitral case against Beijing for the destruction of the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea.
"No comment now," the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Monday, April 1, after being asked about the Philippines' plan.
But the embassy said that the "basic principle of state consent" in international law must be abided.
On March 6, former Supreme Court (SC) associate justice Antonio Carpio bared that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is already preparing to file charges against China and seek damages over its destruction of the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea.
The new arbitral case will be different from the first one, which can hardly be enforced by the Philippines, according to Carpio.
The new complaint will now seek monetary damages from China for its activities that have damaged the natural habitat of the country's seabed.
In 2013, the Philippines filed its first arbitral case against China in relation to its territorial fight over the waters in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—called the West Philippine Sea.
China refused to participate during the proceedings and did not accept the ruling that came out in 2016, which turned in favor of the Philippines.
Until now, China is still asserting its rights over the West Philippine Sea despite the ruling and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which it has also ratified.