MARLAW and the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

 The Maritime Law Association of the Philippines (MARLAW) has actively supported the Philippine Government's historic case against China over the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) through several fora. 

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Tuesday, July 12, 2016 said an arbitral tribunal has ruled in favor of the Philippines wherein it "concluded that, as between the Philippines and China, there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources, in excess of the rights provided for by the Convention, within the sea areas falling within the '9-dash line.'"

The tribunal said that "all of the high-tide features in the Spratly Islands (including, for example, Itu Aba, Thitu, West York Island, Spratly Island, North-East Cay, South-West Cay) are legally "rocks" that do not generate an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."

Rappler summed the Tribunal's key findings

The 501-page document was uploaded shortly after 11 am in The Hague time (5 pm in Manila), and was accompanied by a shorter, 11-page press release summarizing key parts of the award.
The tribunal had the following key rulings:

The so-called "9-dash line" is invalid: "The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the '9-dash line.'"

Reclaimed islands have no exclusive economic zone: "The Tribunal noted that the current presence of official personnel on many of the features is dependent on outside support and not reflective of the capacity of the features... (and) ....that none of the Spratly Islands is capable of generating extended maritime zones.

"The Tribunal found that it could – without delimiting a boundary – declare that certain sea areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China."

China has behaved unlawfully: "China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone. The Tribunal further held that Chinese law-enforcement vessels had unlawfully created a serious risk of collision when they physically obstructed Philippine vessels."

Beijing has damaged the environment: China's large-scale land reclamation has "caused severe harm to the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve and protect fragile ecosystems."

Island building should have stopped during the dispute process: The panel said it had no jurisdiction over the military standoff at Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese and Philippine military and law enforcement vessels are locked in confrontation.

However, "China's recent large-scale reclamation and construction of artificial islands was incompatible with the obligations on a state during dispute resolution proceedings, insofar as China has... destroyed evidence of the natural condition of features of the South China Sea that formed part of the Parties' dispute."

Three-year process

This ruling by an arbitral tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, comes after a 3-year process pursued by Manila but snubbed by Beijing.

The Philippines made the following moves in pursuing the case for the past 3 years:

• Filing a case against China on January 22, 2013

• Submitting a 4,000-page pleading or memorial on March 30, 2014

• Submitting a 3,000-page supplemental memorial on March 17, 2015

• Appearing before the arbitral tribunal in The Hague from July 7-13, 2015, to argue that the tribunal has the right to hear the Philippines’ case

• Returning to The Hague to discuss the merits of its case against China from November 24-30, 2015

Since 2012, MARLAW has sponsored several fora that tackled the issue.

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MARLAW Portcall Philippine   Maritime Law Annual Conference , October 16, 2012 Manila Diamond Hotel with Henry Bersuto Jr. of the DFA's Center for Maritime and Ocean Affairs and Prof. Jay Batongbacal of UP Law.

MARLAW Portcall conference at the Hyatt hotel October 29, 2013 : The Philippine Maritime Industry: A Sea of Change

Forum on Scarborough Shoal sponsored by the MARLAW and Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs (IMOA) with UP Prof. Jay Batongbacal as the guest speaker.DLSU September 2014.

"Territorial Disputes over West Philippine Sea" forum on 31 July 2015, 1:30pm at the AIMS Maritime College, in Pasay City with Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio as the guest speaker. , It is a joint project of the Maritime Law Association of the Philippines (MARLAW), Asian Institute on Maritime Studies (AIMS), Institute for Maritime and Oceanic Affairs (IMOA) and Maritime Forum, Inc.

Oathtaking last april 21, 2016   of  MARLAW trustees and officers  before former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who led the Philippine team in the arbitration case against China over the disputed West Philippine Sea. (South China Sea)