Truth, not military power, secured the Philippines’ legal victory in the South China Sea dispute, the Presidential Communications Office said as it marked a decade since the landmark decision.
“Hindi dahas o sandata ang ating pinanghawakan, kundi ang katotohanan (We did not rely on force or weapons, but on the truth),” the PCO stated on Sunday, July 12.
The office issued its statement to observe the tenth year since the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, characterizing it as a defining moment that established the country’s entitlements in the West Philippine Sea under international law. “Ngayong Araw sa Kasaysayan, ginugunita natin ang ika-10 anibersaryo ng 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, isang makasaysayang desisyon na naglinaw sa mga karapatan ng Pilipinas sa West Philippine Sea alinsunod sa pandaigdigang batas (Today in History, we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, a landmark decision that clarified the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea in accordance with international law),” it said.
Ten years after the decision was handed down, the PCO maintained that its legal weight has not diminished. “Makalipas ang isang dekada, nananatiling ‘final and binding’ ang pasya ng Arbitral Tribunal alinsunod sa mga probisyon ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (A decade later, the ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal remains ‘final and binding’ under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” the office added.
The commemoration echoed earlier comments from President Marcos, who argued that governance of the South China Sea should rest on legal principles rather than on military or economic strength.
The award itself was delivered on July 12, 2016, by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. In that decision, the tribunal found that Beijing’s sweeping “nine-dash line” claim covering vast stretches of the South China Sea held no legal footing under UNCLOS, while recognizing that the Philippines holds sovereign rights across its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. Beijing has refused to acknowledge the outcome since it was issued.
