Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 23) — Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra has formed a panel to study the country’s options regarding its arbitral victory, which invalidated China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea.
At Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Department of Justice’s proposed ₱34.5-billion budget for 2024, Guevarra said the panel would study suggestions to elevate China’s continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea—a part of the South China Sea—as well as having another round of arbitration in the tribunal.
The Philippines brought an arbitration case against China before The Hague-based tribunal in 2013. It ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016, saying China’s claim over the entirety of the South China Sea based on the “nine-dash line” has no lawful effect.
Guevarra said he constituted two weeks ago “a special team of high-caliber solicitors who have extensive training in international law and arbitration” to study the country’s legal options regarding the matter.
“Of course, we are very much aware of the proposal to bring the matter to the UN General Assembly, which is a very political forum and also a similar proposal to have a second round of arbitration with the Permanent Court of Arbitration,” he said.
“But these are matters that have to be studied very carefully by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) as counsel for the republic, because these may have very, very serious and important implications. So right now, we are in the midst of this study,” he added.
Meanwhile, Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez proposed a ₱10-million budget for the panel created by the OSG, which Guevarra welcomed.
