DFA: Philippine maritime zones not at risk

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ maritime zones are not at risk, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday, belying retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio’s statement in a television interview that the DFA should not sleep on the job.

The DFA took strong exception to Carpio’s remarks on June 12, which accused the department and the Philippine government of dereliction of duty, treason and “sleeping on the job” with respect to the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).

Carpio’s statements, the DFA said, rest on a fundamental misreading of the BBNJ Agreement and a conflation of distinct maritime zones under UNCLOS, most critically confusing the high seas with the exclusive economic zone.

“This is not a matter of interpretation: the BBNJ Agreement explicitly and unambiguously excludes the maritime zones of coastal states from its scope, a fact apparent from even a cursory reading of both its title and text,” it added.

The DFA said Carpio’s assertion that the high seas were largely unregulated prior to the BBNJ Agreement reflects a misunderstanding of the subject matter. “The BBNJ Agreement does not deal with fish stocks. The conservation and sustainable use of straddling and migratory fish stocks is governed by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, a separate UNCLOS implementing agreement that has been in force since December 2001.”

Carpio stated that the Philippines should formally object to China’s declaration that the agreement “will not apply to areas where there are disputes in the sea, meaning the South China Sea” and to areas under China’s claimed sovereignty.

“It bears noting that China’s declaration does not explicitly mention the South China Sea; this is Justice Carpio’s own interpretation,” the DFA said, adding that there is no longer any unresolved maritime dispute with respect to China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea as the 2016 Arbitral Award conclusively held that the nine-dash line is incompatible with UNCLOS and carries no legal force.

Carpio warned that the Philippines “stands to lose our own EEZ” if the country does not file a protest, which the DFA said is without legal foundation.

“Simply stated: the Philippines’ maritime zones are not at risk,” the DFA said, while acknowledging the retired justice’s distinguished contributions to Philippine law, jurisprudence and legal scholarship.

The DFA called the accusations “baseless” as the Philippine government “consistently and on record stated that the Agreement applies to the pockets of high seas within the South China Sea.”

Floating platform removed

The movable floating platform in Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag Shoal) has been removed from the lagoon, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) confirmed on Wednesday.

The task force reported the development after its latest maritime domain awareness (MDA) patrols and monitoring in the vicinity.

“While we take note of the removal, we reiterate our principled and unyielding position: Bajo de Masinloc is and will always be an integral part of Philippine territory,” NTF-WPS said in a statement.

It said only the Philippines has the right to place or build structures in Panatag Shoal and its territorial sea.

The task force said it remains committed to protecting its territorial integrity, upholding the rules-based international order and defending the country’s legitimate entitlements in the conduct of its patrol, operations and lawful presence in Panatag Shoal.

Meanwhile, the Philippine embassy in Vietnam had organized an orientation lecture on arbitration and the role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration for Association of Southeast Asian Nations diplomats. –  Andrew Ronquillo, Michael Punongbayan