PH needs maritime law experts to bolster shoal claim, Enrile says

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines should consult government agencies and maritime law experts to bolster its claim over the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile said during a Senate hearing Friday.

“The Philippines should be in unanimity when it argues its case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS),” Enrile said.

He said all the concerned government agencies should gather their heads to prepare a paper which will be submitted to the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee for further study.

“We have to have a guide in dealing with this problem,” Enrile said.

Enrile also suggested that the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice should talk to lawyer Estelito Mendoza for better understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Mendoza is the only living member of the team created by the late President Ferdinand Marcos that participated in the UNCLOS deliberation.

“All of us must have a better understanding of this issue before we start talking,” Enrile said.

Enrile pointed that the country has a good case in claiming its right over Scarborough Shoal as well as the Reed Bank.

He explained that China’s nearest island to the disputed shoal is Hainan which is more than 800 nautical-mile away from Scarborough Shoal.

“Therefore, I think the claim is unreasonable, inequitable and grossly disproportionate to the claim of any country in the world,” Enrile said.

Enrile added that the Philippines should hire lawyers that are experts in territorial disputes just like what Vietnam did to support its claim over Spratly Islands.

Vietnam, in 2009 hired the Washington-based law firm Congton & Burling to assess how the International Court of Justice would settle the boundary dispute in the Spratlys.