Former Senate President and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile yesterday said rule of force is the law that governs the West Philippine Sea.
The senatorial candidate of the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino issued the statement amid this week’s naval parade in Qingdao touted to be the largest held by China, an economic and military power, to showcase its naval prowess.
In 2016, the United Nations Arbitration Court rejected China’s historical claim over most parts of the South China Sea and favored the Philippine territorial claim over some parts of the SCS. But China vowed never to surrender an inch of its territories.
Enrile, author of the Philippines Baseline Law, said the Philippines has territorial rights over some parts of the SCS but questioned if we can enforce it. “If not, you have to bow to the powerful,” he pointed out.
He said that the rule of force and not the rule of law is what counts among nations. “Because among nations, it is what they call a Hobbesian society. It is the rule of force rather than the rule of law that matters,” Enrile explained, referring to a situation of unrestrained competition expounded by political philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
In the WPS dispute, Enrile says it will all come down to how many ships you have, how many fighter jets you have, how many soldiers you have.
Enrile pointed out the difference between the Philippines’ territorial waters and core territory. He said what was recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas was the Philippines’ territorial waters which is 200 miles from the shoreline.
Within that 200-mile territorial water is our exclusive economic zone, he explained. “Lahat ng isda diyan, lahat ng minerals diyan sa ilalim ng tubig na ‘yan, we have the economic right not the political right,” Enrile said.
He said that what the country won in the UN Arbitral Tribunal was the economic right to exploit the zone exclusively but not the sovereignty over the disputed waters. “It’s not part of the territory of the Philippines,” he said. (Mario Casayuran)