The Philippines appealed to the Arbitral Tribunal to uphold all the Philippines’s claims, especially in the maritime entitlements of the parties involved to protect the sovereignty of the Philippines and to ensure international peace and security, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario made the call as the Philippines wrapped up its arguments on the last day of the hearings on the merits and remaining issues of jurisdiction and admissibility in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines against China under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.
Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said that government was “cautiously optimistic” of winning the case.
The United Nations Arbitral Tribunal will issue a ruling by 2016.
Del Rosario also disagreed with China’s pronouncement that the Philippines initiation of the arbitration was “an unfriendly act.”
“We disagree to that. In 1982, the UN General Assembly adopted the Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes between States which declared that recourse to the judicial settlement of disputes “should not be considered an unfriendly act between States,” Del Rosario said.
He said that this year is also the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China.
Since 1975, economic and political ties between the two countries have grown.
“We view China as a valued friend. And it is precisely to preserve that friendship that we initiated this arbitration,” Del Rosario said during the conclusion of the hearing.
The hearing, which started last Nov. 24, was held at the Peace Palace, the headquarters of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The Philippines brought up the arbitration case before the international court in an attempt to stop China’s massive land reclamation works in the West Philippine Sea/China Sea.
The court has given all the parties until December 9, 2015 to review and submit corrections to the transcripts of the hearing.
Del Rosario said the Philippines will submit further written responses to the questions posed by the Tribunal during the hearing and other related materials by December 18.
China has refused to participate in the entire arbitral proceedings as the country claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost the entire South China Sea, but the tribunal has decided to give China the chance to comment in writing by January 1, 2016.
The Philippines argued that China’s claims are unlawful, saying that the nature of the reefs and shoals claimed by China and these pieces of land are not entitled to having an exclusive economic zone because they are not visible during high tide.
Other unlawful acts by China includes illegal claim on the validity of the nine-dash line based on China’s historical basis, which the Philippines believes that this runs counter to UNCLOS, which China is a signatory to; the Philippines has expressed concerns on the alleged environmental damage to the ecosystem in areas reclaimed by China; The Philippines says that China claims are inside the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone, as provided by UNCLOS.
China opposes the arbitration proceedings, preferring to conduct bilateral talks instead.