Group backs call for China to bring jurisdiction claim before ICJ

A frame grab from handout aerial video footage taken and released on March 23, 2024, by the Armed Forces of the Philippines shows China Coast Guard ships (left and right) deploying water cannons against the Philippine military-chartered civilian boat Unaizah May 4 (UM 4) during its supply mission near the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. AFP

MANILA, Philippines — China should bring the Spratlys territorial dispute to arbitration by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a group said Saturday in support of the call earlier made by Department of National Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro.

Political coalition 1Sambayan asserted that the Permanent Court of Arbitration was definite in its landmark July 2016 award that Ayungin Shoal is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

It said in a statement that “Ayungin Shoal is not a land territory that can be subject to sovereignty as erroneously claimed by China.”

“Ayungin Shoal is submerged at high tide, outside the territorial sea of any high-tide feature, and thus forms part of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines,” it explained.

READ: Teodoro dares China to put maritime sovereignty claim to arbitration

1Sambayan continued: “Since China is claiming sovereignty over Ayungin Shoal, we support the call of Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro challenging China to submit to arbitration by the International Court of Justice the territorial dispute in the Spratlys. Such arbitration complies with the UN Charter which mandates that disputes between states shall be settled by peaceful means like arbitration by the ICJ.”

The group likewise joined broadening condemnation of China’s continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

READ: China Coast Guard fires water cannon at PH ship again

It strongly denounced the China Coast Guard’s water cannon attack on a Philippine supply vessel on March 23. China’s latest hostility in West Philippine that targeted Unaizah May 4, which was on a resupply mission en route to the BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin Shoal, destroyed the ship and injured three Filipino crew members.

1Sambayan stressed that the Philippines has unshared rights in its EEZ, and that China cannot prevent vessels of other countries from sailing on the disputed waters based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.