DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana apologized on Friday, July 27, to Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio for saying the West Philippine Sea (South China sea) arbitration ruling was an "empty victory" for the Philippines.
“I sincerely apologize to these two great gentlemen for ruffling their feelings when I said that the PCA ruling in our favor is an empty victory. Both have reasons to be miffed for they worked hard to win our case before the PCA. It was not my intention to denigrate their achievement,” Lorenzana said in a statement.
“They have my highest regard for being true patriots, having spent enormous efforts and time to vigorously and successfully argue our case before the PCA in The Hague. For that, and among other things, we Filipinos owe them a lot,” he added.
PCA refers to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), an arbitral tribunal based at The Hague, which ruled on July 12, 2016 that there is no legal basis for China to claim rights to South China Sea resources within the "nine-dash line."
Lorenzana explained that the phrase “empty victory” does not pertain to the efforts made by the two government officials but rather to the outcome of the ruling.
Both Del Rosario and Carpio during the previous administration had worked on the filing of cases before the PCA against China.
Lorenzana issued the remark following after a Social Weather Survey result showed that at least eight out of 10 Filipinos believe that it is important that the country should take over the WPS being claimed by China.
He said the PCA ruling was only about sovereign rights and not sovereignty.
“With the realities on the ground, the victory being claimed is premature and incomplete since the ruling has no enforcement mechanism. How can victory be claimed over an arbitration case that proceeded even if the other party declined to participate, having stated from the beginning that it will not abide by the arbitration’s outcome?,” he said.
“Until we regain complete control of our Exclusive Economic Zone, and until the PCA ruling is fully enforced, it remains just a piece of paper. It pains me to say this but it is the fact. Not telling the people the real situation on the ground vis-a-vis the PCA ruling and pretending that it is a victory is grossly misleading, and gives our people false hopes,” he added.
However, Lorenzana maintained that the government does not want to lose any territory in the WPS. (SunStar Philippines)