PCG hits mockery of arbitral ruling

MANILA, Philippines — Deluded into believing that its military and economic might “can make its actions right,” China continues its “blatant disregard” for the 2016 arbitral ruling that nullified its vast sea claims and reaffirmed Manila’s maritime entitlements, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said yesterday.

“Over the past eight years, China has demonstrated a blatant disregard for international law and has belittled institutions that aim to maintain global order,” Tarriela, spokesman for the PCG in the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), said in a post on X.

He said such delusion has “emboldened” China to continue its “persistent and continuous aggressive and unlawful actions in the entire South China Sea.”

Tarriela wrote the post in response to an X post by China’s Global Times on Friday calling the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, “illegal” and full of “fallacies.”

“Despite the fallacies of the illegal #SouthChinaSea Arbitration Award released on July 12, 2016 being exposed, the Philippines continues to ignore the truth and instead celebrated the so-called ‘8th anniversary’ of the illegal arbitration award with Western allies on Friday,” according to the Global Times article posted on X.

It also quoted “analysts” as saying the Manila forum on the arbitral award last Friday was a “political show” aimed at perpetuaitng the “China threat” rhetoric and manipulating international perception “in order to constrain China.”

The Chinese publication was apparently referring to the forum organized by Stratbase ADR in Manila attended by ambassadors and other foreign delegates from the US, Japan, France, European Union and Australia to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award.

“Just to inform you, the 2016 arbitral award remains one of the landmark decisions that declared China’s nine-dash line claim in the entire South China Sea as invalid, illegal and without any basis,” Tarriela said, addressing the Global Times.

Fluvial procession

As part of the commemoration of the Philippines’ legal victory against China in The Hague, the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan will hold a fluvial prayer procession on Tuesday in the province, Archbishop Socrates Villegas announced yesterday.

The fluvial procession will start with a 6 a.m. mass at the coast of Barangay Cato in Infanta town, Pangasinan, he wrote in Circular 2024-17 dated July 11.

Afterwards, participants will pray the rosary, with participating boats carrying “venerated images” of the Virgin Mary, he said.

“Prayer banners” bearing images of the Blessed Mother would also be installed, or made to “float over the sea as an act of entrustment and gesture of trust in her loving protection,” he added. Pangasinan province faces the West Philippine Sea.

Those who cannot attend the fluvial procession may pray the rosary at 7:30 a.m. on the same day, the day of the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Villegas said.

He called on devotees to “pray for both China and the Philippines.”

“We will pray not just for protection from conflict but to make all of us, Chinese and Filipinos together, as peacemakers,” he said.

Villegas earlier launched a rosary campaign from June 27, Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, until Aug. 15, the feast of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven, with the intention of countering China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

He called China a “threat,” saying the Asian power “neither fears nor does it exhibit hesitation in inching menacingly close to the Philippines.”

‘Political circus’

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy mocked the Filipinos’ celebration of the eighth year of the arbitral award, calling the landmark ruling a “political circus dressed up as a legal action.”

The embassy claimed that China has the “support and understanding of more than 100 countries,” but declined to name them when asked to.

“The award rendered is illegal, null and void. China does not accept or recognize it, and will never accept any claim or action thereon,” it said.

It again accused the Philippines of aligning itself with the West to form a clique of countries that are anti-Beijing.

“The Philippine side clings onto this illegal, invalid arbitral award at the expense of its relations with China. By aligning itself with the US and some other Western countries on the South China Sea issue, the Philippines joins the small circle of the west ganging up against China,” the embassy said.

In a statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused the US and the European Union of meddling in the issue and pushing for arguments that “do not hold water.”

“First, the US selfishly refuses to accede to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), and yet often lectures other countries on their implementation of UNCLOS. This is hypocrisy, double standard and selective application of international law,” he said in a statement.

“Second, the US and the EU disregard the history and facts on the South China Sea issue, act against the UN Charter and misinterpret UNCLOS and other international law,” Lin said.

He claimed it was the US which encouraged the Philippines to file an arbitration case against China.

“This is political manipulation aimed at using allies to destabilize the South China Sea and the region and advance the nefarious agenda of going after China,” he claimed.

“We urge countries outside the region led by the US to earnestly respect these efforts, refrain from statements and actions that disrupt regional peace and stability and stop being a trouble maker in the South China Sea,” he said.

He claimed the issues raised by the Philippines in the arbitral case “were beyond the scope of jurisdiction” of the tribunal that was “set up temporarily at the unilateral request of the Philippines.”

“The Philippines breached the common understandings it had reached with China on resolving the disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral consultation and negotiation,” he pointed out.

“The Philippines violated the article of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) which states that the disputes should be resolved by peaceful means through consultations and negotiations by sovereign States directly concerned,” the foreign ministry statement claimed.

“The Philippines abused the UNCLOS dispute settlement mechanism, ignored China’s declaration which, according to UNCLOS, excludes maritime delimitation from compulsory dispute settlement procedures and insisted on initiating the arbitration,” he said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Michael Punongbayan