Soon, the Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will issue its decision concerning the case filed by the Philippines over its maritime entitlements in the South China Sea. Despite China opting not to formally participate in the court’s proceedings, the tribunal’s decision will be legally binding for all concerned. Once a ruling is issued, the Philippines will abide by the tribunal’s decision and will continue to work toward a peaceful, cooperative and rules-based resolution to the disputes.

For a country such as the Philippines, whose maritime entitlements have been violated over the past years, the decision to put forward the case to arbitration was not taken lightly. It was done so only after exhausting all reasonable means of political and diplomatic negotiations. It was an action that became necessary only after the Philippines recognized that the matter could no longer be resolved between the two countries.

This is in marked contrast to how the Philippines and Indonesia were able to bilaterally resolve their overlapping exclusive economic zones, after years of peaceful negotiations. Cognizant of its obligations as a responsible member of the international community of nations, the Philippines decided to bring the issue with China to arbitration, a dispute-settlement mechanism that is open, friendly and binding.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/17/why-arbitration-matters.html