Archive - South China Sea

Was Duterte’s Occupy Spratlys order a reaction to the decline of the people’s trust in him as shown in the latest survey of Pulse Asia that he had to show that he is no lackey of China and he can stand up to the neighboring economic giant?

Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio reminded Sunday President Duterte of his “constitutional duty” to the Filipino people to defend the country’s national territory and suggested to him four ways he can do it as regards the reported China’s plans to set up an environmental monitoring station in Scarborough Shoal.

The notes of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio on Benham Rise is very useful as the 13-million-hectare undersea region east of Luzon is in the news with the disclosure last week by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that Chinese survey ships have been spotted in the area last year.

Benham Rise is an underwater plateau that stretches from the coasts of Cagayan and Bicol up to approximately 300-350 nautical miles (nm) in the Pacific Ocean. A large part of this plateau is within the 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf of the Philippines.

Last week’s smooth, relatively uneventful retreat by ASEAN’s foreign ministers appears to have put the grouping’s agenda on track for its 50th year, choosing to focus beyond the South China Sea disputes and set the stage for an April leaders’ summit that will put the spotlight purposefully on ASEAN’s golden anniversary.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations starts discussions on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea this month with two contentious issues: the non-militarization of occupied features, and restraint in the activities in the SCS, specifically those involving China.

In giving a rundown of the Office of the Solicitor General’s accomplishments since he went on board on June 30, 2016, Solicitor General Jose Calida appeared to have grabbed credit from his predecessors.