Respect ‘constitution of the oceans’–Locsin
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. on Thursday stressed the importance of respecting treaty obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) to avoid conflict that could lead to war.
In a speech at the opening of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (Asil), Locsin referred to Unclos as the constitution of the oceans.
However, despite its near universal acceptance by 168 states parties, Locsin said “the most imminent and potentially the most disastrous dangers in our world today pertain to marine and maritime affairs.”
“If only we respected pacta sunt servanda in our obligations under Unclos, there could be less animosity with its greater likelihood of conflict,” Locsin said, apparently alluding to China. The Asian giant signed Unclos but has refused to participate in—and rejected the outcome—of a case filed in a tribunal arising from Unclos provisions.
In July 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines, which filed a complaint seeking to declare as invalid China’s claim of historic rights to seas falling within its nine-dash line policy.
The arbitral tribunal’s ruling was based on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea but China has refused to recognize the ruling.
The US, too
Locsin also took a swipe at the United States for its failure to be part of Unclos.
“If only the greatest power on Earth led by example of subscribing to Unclos, it would be a safer world. The only cure for the uncertainty that gnaws at our sense of security —and invites us to prepare for war to find its opposite in peace—is the universal acceptance of international law. Not in place of the national self-interest but to serve it better,” he added.
The US and China are at odds over the long-seething territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has turned several former reefs into artificial islands with military facilities, runways and surface to air missiles.
Although Washington is not a party to the disputes, it has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the contested waters where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Taiwan have overlapping claims, but claimed nearly in its entirety by China.
Tensions between the Philippines and China heightened anew after Chinese warships made an unannounced passage through the Sibutu Strait in Tawi –Tawi on several occasions in July and August .
While any foreign vessel may be allowed to cross a coastal state’s territorial sea under Unclos without the need to notify the state if they are conducting innocent passage, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana does not consider the passage of the Chinese ships as such because they did it several times.
On the other hand, Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that in the exercise by foreign merchant ships and warships of innocent passage through the territorial sea or archipelagic waters, the coastal state cannot require prior permission or prior notification.
Pass bill now
Carpio suggested that Congress immediately pass the long-pending Archipelagic Sea Lanes Passage bill in order for the President to designate the sea lanes where foreign merchant ships and warships could pass.
“The law can require foreign ships exercising the right to archipelagic sea lane passage to turn on their Automatic Identification System [AIS] and for submarines to surface and show their flag,” Carpio said.
Carpio said Duterte should certify the bill as urgent, since it has been pending in Congress for several years now.
Asil’s agenda
Aside from maritime issues, the more than 400 delegates of Asil are expected to come up with proposed legal solutions concerning counterterrorism, human rights, the rule of law and dispute settlement during the two-day event which will end today (Friday).
Also present in the event were Judge Yuji Iwasawa of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Supreme Court Justice Francis Jardeleza, International Criminal Court Judges Chang-ho Chung and Raul Pangalangan, retired ICJ Judge and the first president of Asil Hisashi Owada.
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