OSG studying PH next move on the West PH Sea issue

Transcript

00:00 No matter how China tries to slice, dice and spin doctorates moves in the West Philippine

00:05 Sea, the territorial row boils down to the rule of law, as provided for in the United

00:10 Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas or UNCLOS, which China is a signatory to.

00:17 Hence the ball is now in the court in hands of the country's top lawyer to study on how

00:21 to legally argue or lay claim on what is really Philippine territory as Melalee Moras reports.

00:29 As they faced the lawmakers yesterday, the office of the Solicitor General revealed it

00:35 is studying the country's next move on the issues on the West Philippine Sea.

00:39 Recently, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Chinese Coast Guard had a heated encounter

00:44 in Ayunginshol which led to firing of water cannon by China.

00:48 But after that incident and earlier this week, the resupply mission of our troops for BRP

00:53 Sierra Madre made it to the same location safely and successfully.

00:58 weeks ago I constituted already a special team of high caliber solicitors who have extensive

01:08 training in international law, international public law and also in arbitration to study

01:16 the legal options that the Philippine government may take in connection with the victory that

01:22 we had secured in 2016 from the permanent court of arbitration against our big neighbor.

01:29 The OSG is also well aware of other measures being taken by other government agencies to

01:35 further advance the country's sovereignty and are part of their ongoing study.

01:39 We are very much aware about the proposal to bring the matter to the UN General Assembly,

01:45 which is a very political forum, and also a similar proposal to have a second round

01:53 of arbitration with the permanent court of arbitration.

01:57 But these are matters that have to be studied very carefully by the office of the Solicitor

02:04 General as counsel for the Republic because this may have very, very serious and important

02:11 implications.

02:12 Here at the House of Representatives, lawmakers are also pushing for certain measures on the

02:17 issue on disputed territory, like the House Resolution No. 1215 filed by the Makabayan

02:24 bloc calling for investigation into China's claim that the Philippines promised to remove

02:28 BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal, which the government vehemently denies.

02:34 Mel Llasmoras for The Nation.