Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. AFP FILE
MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. is the “perfect person” to convince the President to use the Philippines’ arbitral tribunal victory in the West Philippine Sea against China as the country is “running out of options,” former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Tuesday.
Del Rosario pointed out that there were “many areas of recourse” that the Philippines could take in moving forward the arbitral tribunal outcome, including bringing it to the United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly.
“I think Teddy Boy (is) independent-minded. He has no political agenda. So, I think he would be the perfect person to convince the President that this is what we ought to do,” Del Rosario said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.
“We’re running out of options. We’re being abused. We’re being bullied and yet the arbitral tribunal outcome remains on the shelf. It’s time to bring it out of the shelf and see what we can do with it,” Del Rosario said.
The former foreign affairs secretary noted that there were cases in the past where countries brought their issues to the UN General Assembly and solutions were provided for the problems.
“We’re not without solutions. We’re not without options. We have many options,” he said.
In 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, affirming that country has exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (in the South China Sea) and that China’s “nine-dash line” is invalid.
READ: PH wins arbitration case over South China Sea
READ: Key points of arbitral tribunal’s verdict on PH-China dispute
However, China has refused to recognize the tribunal’s ruling.
READ: China rejects Hague tribunal judgment—foreign ministry
Locsin earlier said China “won’t respect” the Philippines’ arbitral tribunal victory over the West Philippine Sea. /cbb
READ: China won’t recognize PH arbitral victory over WPS – Locsin