Palace: China's acceptance or rejection of arbitral ruling irrelevant

MANILA, Philippines — Whether or not Beijing accepts the July 2012 ruling of a United Nations-back tribunal on the South China Sea is immaterial under international law, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stressed that the international tribunal had already invalidated China's historic claims to the contested waters and that their artificial islands were located within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

"What is material under international law is it’s there... That’s the unique feature of international law. You cannot deny what is there," Roque said in a televised press briefing. The Philippines has declined to press China on the decision, preferring instead to focus on other aspects of ties between the two nations.

Roque made the statement in response to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, who said that the Philippines should reject China's request to conduct marine research in Benham Rise, which is now officially called Philippine Rise.

READ: Alejano: DFA approved Chinese think tank request to study Philippine waters

In a statement sent to CNN Philippines, Carpio said that the Philippines would be "dumb" to grant China's request following its refusal to accept its obligation under the arbitral award.

Duterte's spokesman, on the other hand, said that there is a difference between international law and domestic law.

Roque: Not Philippines' place to compel China to accept ruling

"In international law, the decision itself is the implementation of the law because that’s a statement of the rights of the parties which cannot be extinguished... I really do not understand, with all due respect to Justice Carpio, he really is recognized as the intellectual heavyweight in the court, why he insists that any country including China must accept it," Roque said.

China has rejected the decision on the South China Sea, saying the proceedings were invalid from the start. It did not send representatives to the proceedings.

Roque further argued that the arbitral ruling is legally binding on all parties whether or not they agree with it as it is considered as a subsidiary source of international law.

"I do not understand why Justice Carpio belabors the point that China does not accept it. In the first place, it's not for the Philippines to compel any state to accept it," the presidential spokesperson said.

Asked if President Rodrigo Duterte will still raise the arbitral ruling with China, Roque said that there is no reason for the chief executive to do so given that there is no "international police" that would enforce the decision.

"What is the self-implementing nature of international law is the fact that the decision exists. That’s it," Roque said.

Roque also clarified that the arbitral ruling is not relevant to Benham Rise as it is not part of the award, which is specifically for the disputed features in the West Philippine Sea. Benham Rise, or the Philippine Rise, is located 216 kilometers east of the coast of Aurora Province.

In 2012, the United Nations Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the request of the Philippines to include Benham Rise as part of its continental shelf.

RELATED: Chinese ‘research’ in Benham Rise slammed