OSG: South China Sea arbitral award endures because PH continues to uphold it
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said the enduring significance of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award lies not only in the legal victory won by the country but in the government’s continuing. . .
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said the enduring significance of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award lies not only in the legal victory won by the country but in the government’s continuing commitment to uphold and institutionalize its principles. Speaking during the 10th anniversary commemoration of the landmark ruling organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Solicitor General Darlene Marie B. Berberabe said the award remains a “living instrument” of national policy because it has been embedded in Philippine laws, institutions, and governance. “The South China Sea Award endures not because it was rendered in The Hague, but because the Republic chose, and continues to choose, to live by it,” Berberabe said. The Solicitor General noted that the ruling affirmed the country’s sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone, protected the traditional fishing rights of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc, and rejected China’s sweeping claims based on the so-called nine-dash line. Berberabe said the Philippines has since translated the ruling into concrete action through legislation, maritime governance measures, and the continued assertion of the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea through peaceful and lawful means. “We are not the ships; we are the legal spine. The Office exists so that every action the Republic takes at sea can be defended in every forum in which it may ever be tested,” she said. She stressed that the arbitral ruling protects not only Philippine maritime entitlements but also the rules-based international order founded on freedom of navigation, regional stability, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. “An award is paper until a Republic chooses to live by it,” Berberabe said. #