Lawmakers on Sunday backed the proposal of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to terminate projects of Chinese firms involved in West Philippine Sea reclamation projects, following the lead of the United States.
In separate statements, Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Sarmiento and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate expressed support for Locsin's recommendation, which mirrors the US imposition of sanctions and restrictions last week on 24 state-owned Chinese companies for taking part in building artificial islands in the disputed waters.
This developed as two retired Supreme Court justices and a former Foreign Affairs secretary urged the government to ask the United Nations General Assembly to enforce the 2016 ruling of a UN tribunal that favors the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
Retired Supreme Court associate justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales and Locsin's predecessor, former Ambassador Albert del Rosario, said this was the most opportune time for the Duterte administration to bring the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling on the South China Sea before the 75th regular session of the UN General Assembly, where leaders of 193 countries will gather on Sept. 15.
“We, Filipinos, must not waste this chance to be heard. Having lost so many opportunities by the shelving of the arbitral ruling since 2016, it is now in our highest national interest to bring this ruling on the South China Sea to the UNGA,” they said in a joint statement.
Locsin, however, rejected Del Rosario’s proposal to bring the PCA ruling to the UN, saying Manila had already won against Beijing by virtue of that decision.
But China has refused to recognize the arbitral court's jurisdiction or its decision in favor of the Philippines. Instead, it has gone on with the construction of artificial islands that house military facilities fortified with airfields and missile launchers in the disputed waters.
“We won it already, why would you want to re-litigate something that you won? It doesn’t make sense,” Locsin said two months ago, when the proposal was first broached.
Zarate and Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said Locsin's proposal should also include the Chinese companies involved in onerous deals like the Kaliwa Dam and Chico Dam projects, which they said "will only bury the country to a debt quicksand."
President Rodrigo Duterte, however, assured the public that government would pay and relocate individuals who would be displaced by the Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon province.
Senator Imee Marcos has opposed penalizing Chinese firms, saying that even Duterte admitted he was "inutile" against aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
"Why would we act tough when we have no power? It's hard to do if we can't commit," she said in an online forum.
But opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros agreed with Locsin that the government should immediately drop project agreements with Chinese companies that are involved in the construction of China’s artificial islands and military installations in the West Philippine Sea.
“It is disturbing that the government has engaged with Chinese companies involved in the destruction of our territories," she said.
In an interview Friday, Locsin reiterated his position, warning that the Philippines may lose the vote because China would be able to win to its side the many small countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, which is a large voting bloc in the United Nations.
Carpio, Morales and Del Rosario, however, disagreed with Locsin, saying “bringing the arbitral ruling to the UNGA is not re-litigating the case.”
“It is enforcing what we already won. As international law does not have a world policeman, it is up to us to enforce the arbitral ruling by rallying other countries to our lawful position. If we do not help ourselves, how can we expect other countries to help us?” they said.
“Our Constitution has clearly tasked our President and military to secure our sovereignty and protect our lands and seas. This important mandate should prompt the government to bring the arbitral ruling to the UNGA,” they added.
When President Duterte decided to shelve the Arbitral Ruling, he also promised the Filipino people to raise the ruling at the proper time.
“This coming September is his penultimate chance to fulfill his promise to the Filipino people,” they said.
They said if the arbitral ruling is raised this year, the country can work multilaterally and bilaterally to bolster the country's chances in the next UN General Assembly in 2021.
They debunked Locsin’s view that China has the votes in the UN General Assembly, saying “on the contrary, “the odds are stacked against China in this dispute.”
They explained that since the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines was made under the auspices of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), they doubted that the 145 littoral states would vote against their national interests by going against UNCLOS, which grants them considerable maritime areas and resources they previously did not enjoy.
“How can naval powers like the United States, United Kingdom, France and others not support UNCLOS, which upholds their freedom of navigation and overflight around the world? This simple logic should not be lost on us,” they opined.
Besides, they said, majority of the Filipinos agreed that “raising the arbitral ruling at the UN General Assembly is the will of the Filipino people.”
“Surveys show that eight out of 10 Filipinos believe that the South China Sea issues should be brought to the UNGA. Our government must listen to its people. We therefore appeal to our country’s leadership to kindly be there for us,” they said.
“We should all unite to give to our people the Philippines they truly deserve under the rule of law. By winning the case against China, the Philippines has the strongest position among all nations to bring the South China Sea issue to the fore,” they added.
“There is no politics here—only our will to do what is right, to protect what is ours and to defend ourselves against the persistent bullying and duplicity by China,” they added.
Hontiveros said the list of companies that contributed to dredging and construction of military islands in the West Philippine Sea — as released by the U.S. Department of Commerce — included China Communications Construction Co., Ltd. (CCCC), a company whose subsidiaries have entered into several projects with the Philippine government.
“Based on the information available to us, the government currently has five memorandum of understanding with this Chinese company. In Manila, Davao, Cebu, and Clark. These projects cannot be continued. If we continue with these deals, it may be equivalent to giving up our territories,” the senator said.
Hontiveros said that CCCC’s subsidiaries have MOUs for the Davao Coastline and Port Development Project, Manila Harbour Center Reclamation Project, Cebu International and Bulk Terminal Project, and the Manila-Clark railway.
The senator added that another Chinese company, China Harbor Engineering Co. (CHEC), also won a bid to build an access road to New Clark City.
“These predatory Chinese companies must be stopped. Let us not give up our sovereignty for infrastructure that can be led by many other companies that do not actively engage in encroaching on our territories," she said.
She urged the government not to surrender the country's territory for some projects with no assurance they can help Filipinos.
"When we celebrate Heroes Day, let us not forget the sacrifices of our heroes who fought for our freedom and sovereignty," she added.