ENFORCEMENT mechanism is what prevents the administration from asserting sovereignty of a maritime region well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, says national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon.
According to Esperon, the 2016 arbitral ruling, which invalidated China’s massive claims over the South China Sea, doesn’t even have an enforcement mechanism.
”Tama ang sinabi ng ating pangulo na papel nga ‘yon kasi yon ang pinirmahan na dokumento pero kasi itong award na ito… it did not rule on the sovereignty over the islands,” said the national security adviser in support of an earlier statement issued by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Ang Arbitral award, walang provisions for enforcement. ‘Di naman niya sinabi na China umalis ka d’yan, ‘di niya sinabi na Pilipinas umalis ka d’yan at kung sinabi man niya ay wala namang enforcement mechanism. Kaya hanging lahat ‘yon,” the retired general who now chairs the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF WPS) added.
Esperon said the tribunal only ruled that the Scarborough Shoal is a “traditional fishing ground of so many nations.”
“Ang reality nawala natin ang Scarborough dahil nung nand’yan tayo, nagsimula ‘yan sa pag-imbestiga sa mga fishermen ng China. Nagpadala tayo ng barkong Navy, gray ship na tinatawag which is military. Dapat ang ginagamit mo ‘yung white ship ‘yung Coast Guard yung sa Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources,” Esperon further averred.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said the 2016 ruling of The Hague-based tribunal is just a paper fit to be thrown in the trash.