MANILA, Philippines – There is a way for the Philippines to enforce the arbitral award of its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, and that is to join foreign navies in patrolling the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Friday, July 12.
“All that the Philippines has to do is to send the Philippine Navy on joint patrol with the US Navy and with the other naval powers of the world when they conduct FONOPs in the West Philippine Sea,” Carpio told a forum marking the 3rd anniversary of the landmark decisionon the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China.
FONOPs, or “freedom of navigation and overflight operations” are the “most robust enforcement” of the arbitral award, the country’s most senior High Court judge added.
Carpio, who helped build the country’s arbitration case, lamented that the Duterte administration has “done absolutely nothing” to enforce the legal victory that invalidated China’s sweeping claim over the South China Sea, including the Philippines’ EEZ that Filipinos refer to as the West Philippine Sea.
Last May, the Philippine Navy patrol vessel BRP Andres Bonifacio joined naval ships from the US, India, and Japan in a FONOP in the South China Sea, sailing from South Korea to Singapore.
This was more an exception than the rule, as the Duterte administration tends to distance itself from activities that might provoke an adverse reaction from Beijing.
Meanwhile, the Philippines participated in joint military exercises led by China in November 2018.
Rights affirmed
President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen not to insist that China abide by the ruling. Instead, he fostered closer ties with Beijing and evaded checking its incursions into Philippine waters for fear that it might lead to war.
Duterte has repeatedly said the Philippines is no match for China’s military might, and that leaves him unable to assert the ruling of an international arbitral tribunal.
Global News 
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