Carpio supports Duterte, Abe call for freedom of navigation

MANILA, Philippines — Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio yesterday supported the joint declaration forged by President Duterte with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling for freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.

In a statement, Carpio stressed that the agreement signed by the two leaders is consistent with the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that the Philippines has a full 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

“The statement of President Duterte upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea should be the main thrust of our foreign policy in the South China Sea,” the top magistrate stressed.

“When states exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, they assert that there are high seas in the center of the South China Sea, and exclusive economic zones around such high seas. The resources in the exclusive economic zone belong exclusively to the adjacent coastal state,” he pointed out.

With this premise, Carpio said it is now clear that the Duterte administration has finally asserted its rights over West Philippine Sea.

“Since the Philippines is the adjacent coastal state in the West Philippine Sea, the resources in this exclusive economic zone logically belong exclusively to the Philippines,” he added.    

Carpio urged the government should call other states to also assert freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed South China Sea.

Duterte and Abe signed the declaration during a bilateral meeting at the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday expressed dismay over President Duterte’s recent remarks on the Code of Conduct (COC) on the disputed South China Sea as she continued to urge the administration to fight for the country’s sovereignty and territorial rights.

She said the country must also find an alternative to Malampaya, one of the country’s major sources of energy.

“We need to find alternative source of oil for electricity, for all our needs, and we can find all these there (WPS),” she added.

Robredo said Vietnam, one of the claimant-countries in the South China Sea, opposed China’s intrusion.

“This is disheartening because we won in the legal process,” the Vice President said, referring to the Philippines’ victory in the arbitral tribunal in 2016. “If we just easily give up our claim, we don’t just deprive our fishermen but the entire Philippines.” – With Helen Flores