PH studying possible new complaint vs. China before Hague-based tribunal | The Final Word - video Dailymotion

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Because of the damage to the coral reefs the Philippines is looking to pursue legal action against China such as filing a new complaint before the Hague tribunal.  UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea Director Jay Batongbacal joins us.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 Because of the damage to the coral reefs, the Philippines is looking to pursue legal

00:04 action against China, such as filing a new complaint before the Hague Tribunal.

00:09 UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea Director, Jay Batong-Bacal joins

00:14 us.

00:15 Sir Jay, good evening and welcome to the program.

00:18 Hi, good evening, and good evening to all our television viewers.

00:23 Okay, so sir, the Philippines is considering legal action against China again, so this

00:28 time over coral harvesting, do you think we have a strong case against Beijing and is

00:32 this the right move?

00:35 Well, I think that there is a strong case because they have been recorded previously

00:41 undertaking this activity and our own fishermen have been reporting this almost yearly since

00:48 around 2014, 2015, if I recall correctly.

00:52 So there is evidence to back up a claim that they have been undertaking these activities.

00:58 The question then lies, then next is how much of it can we prove through direct and substantial

01:04 evidence?

01:05 The West Philippine Sea, after all, is such a large area and there are many reefs to contend

01:13 with, so we have to be very selective in a way in identifying the reefs about which we

01:21 will then file cases, if ever.

01:24 Whether this is the right move or not, I think it's a matter of number one, preparation,

01:29 and number two, strategy overall, because we know that China, of course, will resist

01:35 this kind of litigation again.

01:38 So we have to think carefully on what we want out of this action, if ever we take it.

01:43 Well, that's right, because China refuses to honor the landmark ruling, right?

01:47 So as well as our back-to-back diplomatic protests, so how will things be different

01:55 with a new legal action?

01:58 Yes, that's right.

02:00 I think that a new legal action must be taken in the broader context of what is the Philippines'

02:05 overall strategy for trying to change China's behavior through multilateral pressure.

02:12 We cannot look at the litigation in isolation.

02:15 This is not something we file as if to, and then expect that China will immediately then

02:21 pay damages.

02:22 So this has to be part of a much broader strategy of mobilizing international pressure against

02:30 China in many different fora.

02:32 Actually, some years ago, under the previous administration, our own institute came up

02:37 with something like 11 different ways of doing this, all of them surrounding this issue of

02:45 coral harvesting by China.

02:46 So I think that gives you an idea of how many options there are, how many ways we can try

02:53 to mobilize international pressure against China and its activities in the West Philippine

02:57 Sea.

02:58 Can you share just a few of those strategies with us very quickly?

03:02 Well, they span the range from reportorial or investigatory procedures, so like international

03:11 fact-finding mechanisms, all the way down to this litigation that is being talked about.

03:20 So there are many different ways, many different international fora that we can take the issue

03:25 to, and all of that can be used to mobilize international attention and international

03:29 pressure on China.

03:30 Because that's really what's needed here.

03:33 It's not a threat of payment of damages.

03:36 It's really the pressure of the international community that can make China change its behavior.

03:42 All right.

03:43 Well, the ICC in 2019 junked a similar case filed by former DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario

03:49 and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales against Xi Jinping for lack of jurisdiction.

03:57 So in which court should this new case be filed?

04:01 Well, I think that the ICC declined jurisdiction because it is designed for a specific type

04:09 of action, a specific type of case.

04:13 So they found that it wasn't the appropriate venue, basically.

04:19 For this type of action, I think that our options are, again, an Annex VII Tribunal

04:24 under the Law of the Sea Convention, which is basically the same procedure we took in

04:29 the first South China Sea Arbitration Award.

04:33 And that, I think, would be the basis for any new actions which essentially implement

04:42 the award or follow up on its rulings.

04:45 Well, Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel actually said that the Philippines just shouldn't

04:50 file another case.

04:52 We should assert or reassert our 2016 win instead.

05:00 What are your thoughts on that?

05:01 Well, yeah, those can go together, actually.

05:05 The filing of a case for damages, I believe, would inevitably be based on the South China

05:11 Sea Arbitration Award in the first place, because the award is what establishes our

05:17 rights to the natural resources in the West Philippine Sea, which include these coral

05:23 reefs.

05:24 So if we are to pursue a case for damages to our natural resources, then it will be

05:31 based, in fact, on the finding of the ruling that these areas do pertain to the Philippines.

05:36 All right.

05:37 Well, do you think that President Marcos will actually approve of this planned legal action

05:42 because he has this approach of friend to all, enemy to none?

05:47 Well, I think that's up for the president and the strategy that is recommended to him

05:55 and agreed upon by the Foreign Affairs and Cabinet, I think, because, as I mentioned,

06:01 this litigation should not be seen as an end-all be-all.

06:05 It's only one option out of several, and it is therefore only one possible action that

06:13 we can take under a broader strategy of trying to bring international pressure to bear on

06:19 China in order for it to change its behavior.

06:21 All right.

06:22 And in your view, what else must the government do now in response to the reported damage

06:28 to corals in the West Philippine Sea?

06:30 Of course, as already reported and also stated by our scientists and also some of our government

06:37 officials, of course, research is needed now basically to gather evidence and also to ensure

06:46 that the damages can be attributable really to China if ever we want to file a case against

06:54 it.

06:55 As noted by our scientists, it is also possible that there are other causes of the damage

07:01 that was seen, so we really need to be careful and verify that and ensure that such other

07:06 causes are precluded.

07:09 We have to make sure that those are not the real causes of this damage before we can even

07:14 begin to assemble a case that might be filed against China.

07:18 So filing a case like this is not easy.

07:22 The evidence and the gathering of evidence for this is also not easy.

07:26 So that's why I think we need to be careful and very deliberate in our steps on here.

07:31 And we really need to think of it in terms of a much larger strategy.

07:34 All right.

07:35 UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea Director Jay Batombacal, thank you

07:40 very much for joining us.

PH studying possible new complaint vs. China before Hague-based tribunal | The Final Word

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