Filing new arbitration case vs China 'still an option'

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has not ruled out filing a new arbitration case against Beijing over its growing assertion of its maritime claims in the South China Sea, though the National Maritime Council says the option will have to be "studied carefully."

"It's an option. It needs to be studied carefully. It's on the part of the executive," National Maritime Council spokesperson Alexander Lopez told reporters Monday, September 1, when asked whether a new arbitration case against China would be filed within the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

"The DOJ has said it is an option. It's still an option," Lopez said in mixed English and Filipino. "But regarding what case will be filed and when it will be filed, it depends on the executive."

Recent years have seen mounting pressure from maritime experts and advocates for the government to respond more strongly to China's repeated harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea — the part of the South China Sea that is within Manila's exclusive economic zone.

Among them, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has been one of the most vocal advocates for the Philippines to initiate new arbitral proceedings against China. He previously warned the country was already "running out of options" due to Chinese vessels' continued ramming of Philippine ships within their own EEZ. 

Carpio contends that China cannot win such cases if filed because Beijing's nine-dash line has already been "struck down" by the 2016 Arbitral Award, among others.

The government is still weighing its options, one of which is a potential case that will focus on China's environmental damages. Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla in January said at the time that they were "in discussion and the decision has to come very soon."

Recent tensions despite 'provisional' deal

Lopez's comments comes as the government monitors an increase in Chinese vessels' presence around Ayungin Shoal.

RELATED: Chinese ships with mounted weapons swarm Ayungin Shoal – AFP

This show of force, Lopez said, is China's response to the "big embarrassment" they experienced when two of their ships rammed into each other near Scarborough Shoal on August 11.

"They want to face it and twist narratives again to show that they are still in control. But all these things, we take them seriously," the council spokesperson added.

Despite the heightened activity, Lopez said the Philippines has made no adjustments to its resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, the grounded warship serving as the Philippines' outpost at Ayungin Shoal. 

The provisional understanding between Manila and Beijing that covers the former's resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre remains in effect, Lopez confirmed.

When asked whether recent Chinese actions — including the deployment of fishing nets and swarming of the waters around BRP Sierra Madre — violated this understanding, Lopez deferred to the Department of Foreign Affairs. "If ever there is a violation, I think the DFA will be the right agency to ask about what has been discussed," he said.

The Philippines won a landmark arbitration case against China in 2016 when The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated Beijing's sweeping nine-dash line claim over most of the South China Sea. 

However, China has refused to recognize the ruling and, over the years, continued to ramp up its assertive actions in the tense waterways.