Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, who is running for president in the May 2022 elections, falsely claimed that no member state of the International Criminal Court (ICC) stood up for the 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea dispute that invalidated China’s expansive claims in the maritime area.
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Among Southeast Asian countries, Indonesia — also a signatory of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC — cited the 2016 ruling in a May 2020 diplomatic letter to the UN in rebuffing China’s nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea based on “historic rights.” (See Indonesia’s new diplomatic bombshell against Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea)
Although not a member of the ICC unlike the remaining G7 members, the U.S. has also expressed support for the ruling. In a statement in July, U.S. State Secretary Anthony Blinken called on China to abide by international law, “cease its provocative behavior,” and reassure the international community of its commitment to the “rules-based maritime order.”
Blinken reiterated that an armed attack on Philippine vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea will trigger the 70-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty between the U.S and the Philippines.
The South China Sea arbitral award, issued in July 2016, held that China’s nine-dash line claim has “no legal basis” and declared certain maritime features, like the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, to be within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pro-Duterte blogger makes multiple inaccurate claims on West Philippine Sea, arbitral ruling)
China, which refused to participate in the arbitration proceedings held at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, has since maintained that it will never recognize the decision, describing it as a “piece of waste paper.” (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: PH did not ‘handpick’ entire panel in South China Sea arbitration case)
The ICC, also based in The Hague, Netherlands, became operational in 2002 and was established to investigate and put on trial individuals “charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community;” namely, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression. It does not arbitrate maritime or territorial disputes between states, nor is it mandated to enforce arbitral rulings.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in March 2018 after then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda launched a preliminary examination into thousands of deaths under Duterte’s drug war. The withdrawal officially took effect in March 2019. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte, Panelo spew three false claims about ICC)
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include the video fact check.
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Sources
Isko Moreno Domagoso official Facebook page, Results of drug test: NEGATIVE!, Nov. 24, 2021
Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute official website, The States Parties to the Rome Statute, Accessed Dec. 3, 2021
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs official website, Marking the 5th Anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitral Award, July 12, 2021
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan official website, Five years since the issuance of the Arbitral Tribunal’s award as to the disputes between the Republic of the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China regarding the South China Sea(Statement by Foreign Minister MOTEGI Toshimitsu), July 12, 2021
United Nations Treaty Collection, Rome Statute of the International Court, Accessed Dec. 3, 2021
France Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs official website, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué (London, 5 May 2021), May 5, 2021
United Nations, Note Verbale UK NV No. 162/20 New York, 16 September 2020 The Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North, Sept. 16, 2020
United States State Department official website, Fifth Anniversary of the Arbitral Tribunal Ruling on the South China Sea – United States Department of State, July 11, 2021
Official Gazette, Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America, August 30, 1951
Permanent Court of Arbitration, South China Sea ruling, July 12, 2016
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China official website, Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin at the Press Conference on the White Paper Titled China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, July 13, 2016
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China official website, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s Regular Press Conference on July 12, 2021, July 12, 2021
International Criminal Court, Joining the International Criminal Court, Accessed Dec. 3, 2021
International Criminal Court, About the ICC, Accessed Dec. 3, 2021
International Criminal Court, The Philippines, Accessed Dec. 3, 2021
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
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