Malacañang defends US lawyers in sea row case

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said the government’s decision to hire American lawyers for its case before the United Nations arbitral tribunal shouldn’t be an issue.

“We have the knowledge, but insofar as appearing before the international tribunal… You know, you get the best persons that you can hire for that,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said as he sought to explain why Filipino lawyers were not chosen to represent the government.

“They have been with us since we filed the petition before the ITLOS (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea), our Solicitor General is also there (in The Hague), so there is a close coordination between the foreign counsels and our own Solicitor General (Florin Hilbay),” he added.

Presenting the arguments regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction over the Philippines’ petition against China are lawyers from the Washington-based law firm Foley Hoag, led by Paul Reichler.

Reichler serves as the chief counsel for the Philippines.

Foley Hoag specializes in international litigation and arbitration. In 2013, it was included in top 10 rankings in handling international arbitrations.

“You hire someone on the basis of competence. You hire someone on the basis of expertise and the field of knowledge that one possesses,” Lacierda said.

“It will be foolhardy for us not to hire experts on appearing—those who have experience appearing before those tribunals. So, we are putting our best foot forward, both international and domestic,” he added.

The Philippines is asking the arbitral tribunal to void China’s nine-dash line, which claims around 90 percent of South China Sea.

China has refused to participate in the proceedings and has instead continued to build islands in disputed areas of the sea.

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