PH vows to abide by UN court ruling

The Philippine government on Thursday said it will abide by the arbitration court ruling on July 12 to settle sea disputes even as it urged China and the international community to do the same to ease tensions in the South China Sea.

“The Philippines believes that the rule of law prescribes a just and peaceful means of resolving differences, which is why the Philippines will fully respect the Tribunal’s Award as an affirmation of the Unclos [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea], and hopes that members of the international community and parties to the convention will do the same,” said a statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Former Ambassador Rosario Manalo, who led the High Level Task Force tasked to draft the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) charter in 2006, said the Philippines needs to strengthen further engagement with Asean neighbors in the implementation of the arbitration court’s decision.

“We should work toward  strengthening Asean in the Asia-Pacific even more,” said Manalo in an interview at Philippine Women’s University (PWU), where she is dean of the school of diplomacy.

She said the Philippines, on its own, “does not have individual strength.”

“Together we have some strength politically, security wise, economically, as Asean,” said Manalo.

Manalo recently won a seat in the United Nations committee to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) early June during the elections held at the UN headquarters in New York. Estrella Torres