Philippines to 'lose' if arbitral ruling will be raised at UN — Locsin
MANILA, Philippines — Echoing Malacañang's previous pronouncement, the Philippines' top diplomat thumbed down the idea of raising the arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea row at the United Nations.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Philippines would only "lose" as the UN is dominated by countries "grateful" to China.
Locsin is scheduled to speak at the 74th regular session of the UN General Assembly this month.
"We've always lost Non-Aligned Movement votes to include our Arbitral Award. My many good friends in UN vote against us. We've nothing to comparable to offer," Locsin tweeted Thursday.
The DFA chief, however, stressed that the Philippines could "never ever" give up its legal victory against China.
The July 2016 arbitral ruling issued by the Hague-based Permanent Court Arbitration invalidated Beijing's nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea, part of which is the West Philippine Sea.
"But we will never ever get UN to vote for Arbitral Award. So let's leave it as is; move on to mutual beneficial cooperation. Such is life," Locsin said.
This was in response to the statement of presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo that raising the arbitral award before the UN would be a "futile exercise."
"For one, it's futile exercise. Why? Because UN has no enforcement force," Panelo said Wednesday.
Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario urged the government to raise the issue before the UN as it would be an opportunity for the Philippines to move forward its position.
Del Rosario, who led the Philippines in the arbitration against China, said the UN General Assembly is an excellent venue as all countries would listen.
“In our case, the arbitral tribunal outcome was an overwhelming victory not only for the Philippines but also for the entire world. Unless we allow it, China can no longer claim the South China Sea as its own lake,” Del Rosario said.
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