‘Water cannon’ incident boosts PH case vs China on disputed shoal

This undated handout photo taken by the Philippine Navy and released April 11, 2012, by the Department of Foreign Affairs shows Chinese surveillance ships off Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – China’s use of water cannon against Filipino fishermen in a disputed shoal strengthens the Philippines case before the United Nations (UN) Permanent Court of Arbitration, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza said in a forum Thursday.

“Harassment is not fair, it’s not valid and it is illegal,” Jardeleza said before a forum of the UP College of Law’s Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL).

“If it is declared to be illegal … because it is within our 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone [then] definitely it’s going to help our case,” he said. Jardeleza is the head of the Philippine legal team that brought the case to the international court.

Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) reportedly drove away Filipino fishermen from the disputed Bajo de Masinloc, also known as the Panatag shoal or Scarborough shoal, last January 27 using water cannons.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a country has a 200 nautical mile (370 kilometer) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where it has the sole right to exploit the maritime resources within.

Bajo de Masinloc is 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) away from the coast of Zambales province and 350 nautical miles (650 kilometers) away from China’s southernmost province of Hainan.

Jardeleza said that the main point of their arbitration case is that China’s claim is beyond what is mandated under the UNCLOS, which both countries have ratified.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed a protest with the Chinese embassy February 25 calling it an “act of harassment.”

The Chinese embassy, however, rejected the protest saying it has indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea including the shoal.

In April 2012, a standoff ensued between Chinese and Philippines ships after Chinese fishermen were found illegally poaching endangered and endemic Philippine marine species in the shoal.

Philippine authorities were blocked from apprehending the fishermen by the CCG. China has since been in control of the shoal and has reportedly harassed Filipino fishermen at least nine times in 2013.

The Philippines is set to submit its memorandum to the arbitration court by March 30 after which the court will decide on the next steps. China has refused to participate in the proceedings.