4 Filipinos named into Permanent Court of Arbitration

MANILA, Philippines —The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has appointed four Filipinos as members of the court, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

The DFA said that the international tribunal had confirmed legal experts Raul Pangalangan, Sedfrey Candelaria, Antonio La Viña and Ambassador Eduardo Malaya as Members of the Court after their names were submitted by Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

According to the PCA website, members of the court are arbitrators who are appointed by “contracting parties.” Each contracting party can nominate at least four arbitrators known for their “competency in questions of international law, of the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators.”

Moreover, the individuals appointed to the Court by each Member State will form its national group, providing them the authority to put forward nominees for the International Court of Justice and suggest candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize in conjunction with the ICJ judges.

Malaya is the Philippines’ current ambassador to the Netherlands and is the acting president of the PCA Administrative Council 2023-2024.

Pangalangan, for his part is a former judge of the International Criminal Court from 2015 to 2021 and law professor at UP College of Law.

Meanwhile, Candelaria is also a law professor from the Ateneo de Manila University and is the Chief of Research, Publications and Linkages Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy.

La Viña was a member of the PCA Specialized Panel of Arbitrators and Experts for Environmental Disputes from 2016 to 2022. He was also the former dean of the Ateneo School of Government in 2006. He is the current associate director for climate policy and international relations of the Manila Observatory.

He is also one of the legal counsels of Rep. France Castro (ACT-Teachers) on the grave threat charges filed by the lawmaker against former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Each of the appointee will have a term of six years. Their appointments can be renewed according to the PCA.

Filipinos who had been members of the PCA included retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and retired Justice Jose Vitug.