Former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to allow “joint patrols and military exercises” in the West Philippine Sea as a way of enforcing the country’s landmark victory in the Unclos tribunal. | dpazzibuganINQ /PDI
Del Rosario was the foreign secretary during the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III, when the country won the landmark July 12, 2016, arbitral award under the Unclos, which invalidated China’s claims over nearly all of the South China Sea and recognized the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the area referred to as the West Philippine Sea.
“We understand that the South China Sea dispute may be a complex and dynamic set of issues, politically, economically and diplomatically,” Del Rosario said in a statement on Monday. “However, there is one anchor that will bring much clarity to this dispute, and that is the rule of law” embodied in the 2016 arbitral award won by the Philippines under the Unclos, he stressed.
“Nonetheless, China is persisting in its illegal claim in our waters, like a thief who has already been ordered by a court to return the stolen property to the owner. Thus, the action to be undertaken at this point is the enforcement of the Unclos award,” urged Del Rosario.
Del Rosario also urged the Marcos administration to “make China accountable for the environmental crimes it committed in the West Philippine Sea” and to “build a minimum credible defense posture to protect our national territory.”
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