Ex-foreign affairs chief hopes China will adhere to rule of law

Following the Philippines’ landmark win in its arbitration case over the South China Sea, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Tuesday expressed optimism that China would accept the ruling and adhere to the rule of law.

Del Rosario, who handled the arbitration case under the previous administration, urged other nations to convince China to respect international law.

“The award means right is might and international law is the great equalizer… I think we took this case to arbitration because we were looking for peaceful means to resolve the issue,” Del Rosario said in a televised interview with TV5.

“We think that the choice of arbitration, we believe, was a good one because we wanted to demonstrate to China that arbitration is not an unfriendly act and this is supported by the United Nations. I think China, at the end of the day, will adhere to the rule of law,” he added.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration on Tuesday released its 501-page decision on the arbitration case filed by the Philippines in 2013, which concluded that “there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the ‘nine-dash line.’”

As expected, China, through its foreign ministry, said it “neither accepts nor recognizes” the ruling, calling it as “null and void and has no binding force.”

Echoing Del Rosario, Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Lauro Baja said the Philippines should undertake action and engage China in bilateral talks about the awards.

“Noong panahon pa ni Secretary Del Rosario, sabi niya ‘pag nanalo tayo dapat we should talk to China. So open ‘yung option na ‘yun, ‘yung bilateral talk,” Baja said over ABS-CBN’s “TV Patrol.”

“We must talk about how we can leverage our success in the panel vis-à-vis China and other stakeholders, our allies, and the Asean,” he added.