By ROMEL REGALADO BAGARES AND so the Philippines has just had its Nicaraguan moment as it clinched a unanimous decision in most of its 15 arbitral claims against Chinese “Nine-Dash Line” expansionism in the South China Sea. The Permanent Court of Arbitration, in a landmark ruling released July 12 on the case In
Prepared by the Office of Representative Harry L. Roque Jr. Former Professor of International Law and Constitutional Law, University of the Philippines, College of Law, Former Director, Institute of International Legal Studies, UP Law, Center Vice-President for Southeast Asia and member, Executive Council, Asian Society of International Law Introduction The purpose of this primer is to inform the
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IT’S best that Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. study carefully the intricacies of joint exploration with China so he can advise President Rodrigo Duterte to go slow about it. Yasay, in his clarification about what he said in an interview with Agence France Presse last week, said, ““As the
By BRYAN EZRA GONZALES WEEKS before a ruling is expected on the arbitration case of the Philippines at The Hague, a senator is urging the youth to pressure the government to boost the country’s defense capabilities. “This century will not be a peaceful century,” Senate Minority Floor Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said, referring to escalating tensions
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s proposed solution to the South China territorial conflict would make thrilling action-packed movie scene. In a speech before travel executives at the MOA-SMX last Friday (and in all his rally speches) Duterte said, “I will ask the Navy to bring me to the
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE reply of China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying to the question whether China plans to declare an air defense identification zone over parts of the South China Sea, after commercial aircrafts conducted two test flights in Fiery Cross Reef, was most unsettling. She didn’t confirm nor did she deny the
(On Tuesday, Nov. 17, on the sidelines of the 23rd APEC Leaders Meeting, President Aquino and Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang will hold bilateral talks in Malacanang. They will finally be signing the “Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the Republic of the Philippines and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” which
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS SOUTH China Sea looms large even if it is not in the agenda of the 23rd meeting of the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Manila on Nov. 18 and 19. Foreign Undersecretary Lula del Rosario, chair of the APEC 2015 Senior Officials Meetings, which did all the
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s dogged determination to pursue the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea dispute through the rule of law has proven his approach correct. The court ruled that the case was “properly constituted” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China’s “non-appearance” (i.e., refusal to participate) did not
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS NO amount of China’s protestation that the Oct 29 decision of the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal is “null and void” and it has “no binding effect” on them, cancels the fact that it’s a major blow to them. Filipinos, on the other hand, should understand that the U.N. Arbitral Court’s decision,
