PHILIPPINE STATEMENT

Report of the Secretary-General under article 319 for the information

of States Parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States parties,

which have arisen with respect to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

24^th Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS

13 June 2014

Thank you, Mr President.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea represents a delicate and carefully worked out balance between and among competing national interests by all States Parties. Compromises were made in order to achieve, and if I may quote from the preamble of UNCLOS, a “legal order for the seas and oceans”…that “will contribute to the strengthening of peace, security, cooperation and friendly relations among all nations in conformity with the principles of justice and equal rights and will promote the economic and social advancement of all peoples of the world.”  

Under UNCLOS, the rights and duties of State Parties go hand-in-hand. We are obliged to observe the treaty in its entirety.

My delegation wishes to thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report.

The Philippines shares the Secretary-General’s call in part III of his report for States Parties to clearly define and publicize the limits of maritime zones under their national jurisdiction, so that we will have greater certainty on the extent of our respective sovereignty or sovereign rights and jurisdiction.

However, Mr President, there is doubt and uncertainty on the implementation of UNCLOS in our own region – threatening the very integrity of the Convention – because of an expansionist policy of a certain State Party. That State Party agreed to be bound when it signed and ratified the treaty, but its recent actions contradict its avowed pronouncement that UNCLOS must be “implement[ed] in its entirety.”[1]

With respect to the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, that State Party has taken actions that violate our sovereignty and sovereign rights and international law, to wit:

• In 2012, that State Party failed to abide by a mutual agreement to withdraw naval presence in Scarborough Shoal, which is part of Philippine territory. The problem stemmed from the Philippine navy’s apprehension of their country’s fishing vessels docked at the shoal, and carrying illegally collected corals, giant clams and live sharks. Chinese maritime surveillance ships blocked the arrest of the fishermen, resulting in the standoff. The State Party had erected a barrier to the entrance of the shoal. They have been turning away Philippine vessels sailing to the area.

• Earlier this year, that State Party imposed a unilateral moratorium on fishing in the South China Sea from May to August 2014 in the area “from north of the 12° latitude to the sea border of Fujian province and Guangdong province”, and has issued, as an exception to this fishing ban, so-called “Nansha Special Fishing Permits” to Chinese fishing vessels. The Philippines has officially protested this fishing ban.

• In the last two years, that State Party has undertaken land reclamation of Johnson Reef, McKennan Reef, and Cuarteron Reef in the Spratlys. The Philippines has officially protested these destabilizing activities.

Mr President, these unilateral measures are of grave concern. They form part of a pattern of forcing a change in the regional status quo in order to advance that State Party’s nine dash line claim of undisputed sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea.

China is well aware that one of the issues raised in the arbitral proceedings that the Philippines initiated against it, is the latter’s interference with the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction under UNCLOS. Its actions infringing on our rights and jurisdiction only prejudice and undermine the arbitral tribunal constituted to hear and objectively decide the case.  

China’s actions are also in breach of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, in which the signatory States including China undertook, in paragraph 5, “to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate disputes, or affect peace and stability”.

The Philippines has again and again strongly urged China to respect international law including UNCLOS, to desist from these actions in areas where it has no sovereign rights or jurisdiction under UNCLOS, to refrain from altering the status quo, and to exercise self-restraint.

As State Parties to UNCLOS, it behooves us all to protect the integrity of the Convention. Attempts to upset the stability and security of the regions, efforts to deliberately and blatantly undermine the Convention, and actions that aim to shape the international legal order according to one country’s own interest, should not be allowed to prosper.

Mr President, the challenge before us is to preserve the integrity of UNCLOS and the institutions that are created under it, particularly those that are established for the peaceful settlement of disputes.

If there is doubt and uncertainty on the limits of our adjacent maritime spaces affecting several States Parties in the region, and if bilateral consultations and negotiations have proven futile and one-sided because of lack of good faith, then the solution is the dispute settlement mechanism provided by both UNCLOS and the UN Charter. May all States Parties have faith and give a chance to this mechanism. The concerned State Party should use the significant opportunity given by our arbitral proceeding to provide evidence, historical or otherwise, to back up its claim to 90 percent of the South China Sea, on or before 15 December 2014.  

The Philippines affirms the arbitral proceeding as peaceful settlement of law of the sea-related disputes discussed briefly in part XI of the Secretary-General’s report.

Mr President, we take this occasion to congratulate the re-elected and the new judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. We are confident that with their integrity in addition to their expertise and experience, ITLOS will further develop into the independent and impartial tribunal envisioned by our founding fathers and mothers.

In closing, I wish to quote the president of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, the Honorable Tommy Koh of Singapore, who predicted that UNCLOS as “a comprehensive constitution for the oceans … will stand the test of time.” According to Tommy Koh, this will happen only if we, the States Parties, will “let no nation put asunder this landmark achievement by the international community.”

Thank you, Mr President.