Bringing the country’s arbitral win on the West Philippine Sea dispute before the United Nations (UN) might only cause an adverse effect on the government’s current friendly negotiations with China to address the conflict, Malacañang said Friday.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo stated this in response to the proposal of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to raise the 2016 arbitral ruling during the UN General Assembly, saying it is an exercise in futility.

Panelo said Del Rosario’s proposal might be “well-intentioned” but would be an “exercise in futility.” He insisted that the UN, as an inter-governmental organization, has no enforcement force to implement the arbitral award.

“The proposal of Mr. Del Rosario would, at most, only give international pressure to China relative to our conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea,” Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said even in the case of Nicaragua cited by Del Rosario to support his proposal, the United Nations’ resolution in support only had the effect of “courting global opinion to put pressure on the United States.”

“Given our country’s ongoing peace negotiations with China, we do not need any type of measure, such as this suggestion. It may only have an adverse effect on our continuing diplomatic and friendly talks on the issue,” he added.

Del Rosario had earlier said the UN General Assembly would be an excellent venue for the Philippines to elevate the arbitral ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the disputed territory. He said the country could “reassert that right is might and the rule of law must be upheld” when the world leaders gather at the UN headquarters in New York City this month. The Philippines is slated to speak before the UN assembly on September 28.

The Hague-based court had earlier ruled there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights in the South China Sea within the so-called nine-dash line. It said China breached the sovereign rights of the Philippines by building artificial islands, interfering with its fishing and oil projects. China, however, has rejected the tribunal decision, which stemmed from a complaint filed by the Aquino administration.

At present, Panelo said the pursuit of bilateral negotiations with China remains the “better option” to resolve the territorial conflict.

“The resolution of the territorial conflict is a matter of executive strategy. The Administration has chosen bilateral negotiations, an internationally recognized mode of resolving a conflict,” he said.

“Compared to the previous administration, the present one is faring better,” he added.

He said while the variant stance of the Philippines and China remains the same, “it does not, however, derail nor diminish the improved amity between both countries.”

He said both President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to continue with peaceful dialogue to break the impasse while forging agreements on other mutually beneficial areas of cooperation.

“Presently, there is no better option to resolve the dispute than addressing the same directly with the other claimant,” he said.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/09/20/raising-arbitral-ruling-on-south-china-sea-to-un-an-exercise-in-futility-panelo/