MOMENTOUS VICTORY. Atty. Cecilia Jover-Angeles of the Ateneo de Davao University College of Law said that while the College of Law currently has no official stand on the matter of the tribunal ruling on the West Philippine Sea issue, they consider it a momentous victory for a small country like the Philippines against a military superpower like China. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY – Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is slated to discuss the various issues surrounding the ruling of the international arbitration tribunal favoring the Philippines regarding the West Philippine Sea dispute against the People’s Republic of China.
Carpio would be at the Ateneo de Davao University on Friday, September 2.
Atty. Cecilia Jover-Angeles of the Ateneo de Davao Law school said on Monday, August 29 that the ruling is a major victory for the Philippines.
“People don’t realize it, but this is really a major victory for the Philippines. In the international legal field, this is a momentous victory for a very small country like the Philippines vis-a-vis a superpower like China. We know the military might of the People’s Republic of China and we know where we stand in this controversy,” she said during Monday’s Kapehan sa Davao media conference.
Carpio, who was born here and finished his elementary and secondary education in Ateneo de Davao University has been travelling to the different countries as well as different parts of the Philippines to deliver lectures on
the historical and legal cases of the dispute at the West Philippine Sea.
President Duterte has reiterated that the Philippines cannot go to war and would rather conduct bilateral talks with China.
“China, it’s not worth [it]. I [won’t] go to war,” Duterte said during the commemoration of the
National Heroes Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Monday, August 29.
However, the President noted that he cannot go out of the tribunal’s decision.
“I will state my case before you. I will never bring the matter up because it might lead to the suspension of talks with China and that is not good, Mr. Ambassador. I propose that we just have a soft landing everywhere. We’ll not use the judgment arbitral now, but one day, I will sit in front of a representative or you, and I will lay there my position and I would say that: ‘This paper, I cannot get out with the four corners of this document,’ and that is the arbitral judgment,” he told Chinese ambassador Zhao Jianhua who was also in the audience.
Duterte also appealed to China to look at the plight of the fishermen who are most affected by the conflict and hoped that the Chinese people “will find a place in their heart for Filipinos.”
“After all, there is Chinese blood in me. I hope that you treat us as your brothers and not your enemies, ” Duterte said. (davaotoday.com)
