Resolution filed to commend Noy for Philippines tribunal victory

MANILA, Philippines – Giving credit where credit is due.

This is incoming Senate president Aquilino Pimentel III’s intention in filing a resolution commending former president Benigno Aquino III and other officials for initiating and steering to success the country’s arbitration case against China on the South China Sea dispute.

Also commended in Pimentel’s resolution were former foreign affairs chief Albert del Rosario, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza and former solicitor general Florin Hilbay.

On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague ruled favorably on the case filed by Manila in 2013 contesting China’s nine-dash line claim.

The tribunal also upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights over at least three land features in the West Philippine Sea based on provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Beijing said it will not honor the ruling as it continues to bar Filipinos from fishing at the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, declared a common fishing ground by the arbitral tribunal.

Pimentel said Manila’s legal victory “underscores not only the importance of arbitration as a peaceful, open and friendly mechanism to resolve international disputes, but also the Philippines’ commitment to be a responsible and law-abiding member of the international community.”

He said China’s territorial claim is restricting the Philippines’ movement in almost 80 percent of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The senator said the landmark decision would not have been possible without “the vision, foresight, diligence and courage of then president Aquino, who made the critical decision to file the case, and other patriotic Filipinos.”