Carpio calls on Filipinos to unite

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio speaks during a forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) in a hotel in Makati City on Friday. ESTRELLA TORRES

LAST week’s arbitral tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines should unite Filipinos in getting the world to convince China to accept the decision that invalidated its claims to almost all of the South China Sea,  Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Friday.

Carpio, who has done an extensive study on the South China Sea dispute, said the Philippines and China should negotiate a fisheries agreement in the contested waters, including Panatag Shoal, internationally known as Scarborough Shoal, which the arbitral tribunal declared within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Panatag remains disputed

“[Panatag Shoal] and its territory remain in dispute” because the tribunal ruled only on maritime and not on territorial claims, Carpio told the Trident Defense Forum on the South China Sea held at Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City.

“We have to sit down with China to set protocols and operationalize [Panatag Shoal] as a fishing ground,” he said.

Carpio said he believed China would agree on bilaterial negotiations on a common fishing ground because “it’s a face-saving and win-win solution.”

The Philippines, he said, lost its claims to three of seven reefs occupied by China—Gavin (Gaven), McKennan (Hughes) and Mabini (Johnson South) reefs—that could be the subjects of negotiations for a fisheries agreement.

Exclusive to PH

But it would be difficult to include in the talks the reefs that the tribunal declared well within the Philippines’ EEZ, like Recto Bank (Reed Bank) and Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef), as the Constitution provides that Filipinos have exclusive rights to exploit and enjoy the resources within the country’s territory, he said.

“If we are to negotiate with China on islands within our EEZ, these will have to be recognized as ours,” Carpio said in an interview with the Inquirer after the forum.

He said the Philippines and China could proceed with bilateral negotiations “without conditions on recognizing both arbitration award and nine-dash-line claim,” he said.

Nine-dash line refers to China’s claim to 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea that the arbitral tribunal ruled has no legal basis.