Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 22) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) will meet next week on the possible filing of cases against China for its alleged destruction of corals in the West Philippine Sea, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.
“This is so we can discuss the cases that may be filed in relation to the violations of the environmental laws in the West Philippine Sea. View this as our responsibility to the world to take a hand in matters where environmental destruction is being done,” Remulla told reporters on Friday.
The government earlier accused China of harvesting and destroying corals at Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Beijing’s militia vessels were sighted in the area.
“Whether or not it is our territory but it is within our vicinity, it already gives us a moral responsibility to pursue the destruction of the environment as a task for the good of humanity,” Remulla added.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier said his office has begun studying legal options in tackling the reef destruction, including possibly filing a complaint before the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Remulla said his department is also eyeing this action.
The justice secretary added: “I was speaking earlier through text messages to Atty. Antonio Oposa, one of the foremost world-known Filipino environmental law experts to help us with the task of forming a complaint, a theory of the case when it comes to the destruction of the environment.”
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal said the Philippines has a “strong case” against China, and that the country has evidence to back up its claims, as fishermen in the affected waters have been reporting on Beijing’s harvesting activities since 2015.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), meanwhile, denounced the destructive activities in the Kalayaan Island Group.
It also drew attention to a new oceans treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that was signed by over 60 nations. The treaty seeks the protection of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
READ: PH signs landmark UN oceans treaty protecting marine biodiversity
