Addressing the United Nations General Assembly next week will be an excellent opportunity for the country to seek the help of the international community in compelling China to comply with the 2016 ruling of an arbitral court on the South China Sea issue, former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said.

President Duterte is seeking common ground with Beijing on the planned joint exploration in Philippine waters and has not abandoned the 2016 arbitral court ruling favoring the Philippine position on the South China Sea, Malacañang told Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday.

The US Navy said that one of its destroyers had sailed close to the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday, asserting international freedom of navigation rights in the contested waters.

“Setting aside” the 2016 arbitral court ruling on the South China Sea is as good as abandoning it, Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said yesterday.

Under Philippine law, President Rodrigo Duterte does not have the authority to "set aside" the July 2016 ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Supreme Court Senior Associate Antonio Carpio said.