Palace to Del Rosario: Bringing arbitral ruling before UN assembly ‘futile’

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang described as “futile” the suggestion of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario for the Duterte administration to raise before the UN General Assembly Manila’s arbitral win against China over the South China Sea.

READ: Gov’t urged: bring arbitral ruling to UN

“For one, it’s a futile exercise. Why? because UN has no enforcement force,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters in Malacañang.

The Philippines will address the world body on September 28 where Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. will represent President Rodrigo Duterte.

In his statement, Del Rosario recalled how Nicaragua lobbied before the United Nations to get the United States to comply with a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Yong, sina-cite niyang Nicaragua, o may nangyari ba doon? Wala naman. Ganoon pa rin, di ba?” Panelo said.

The Palace official insisted that Duterte’s approach in dealing with Manila’s maritime row with Beijing is “effective.”

“He (Duterte) finds it effective ‘yong ginagawa niya ngayon. May impasse pero tinutuloy pa rin ‘yong usapan at the same time nakikipag-negotiate siya with respect to other areas of concern mutually beneficial to both countries,” he said.

In July 2016, the Philippines sealed a historic win against China before the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, which invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash line that covers almost the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

China has repeatedly refused to recognize the ruling and Duterte chose to engage China in a diplomatic approach in exchange of loans and other economic perks. /kga