China has backed Philippine maritime zone – Carpio

‘Maybe they didn’t read international treaties’

MANILA, Philippines — By recognizing a 1900 treaty as among those regulating the Philippine territory, China has inadvertently supported Manila’s claim over disputed features in the West Philippine Sea, former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said.

Carpio, in an interview with “Storycon” over One News yesterday, also described as a “watershed moment” the mention of the Treaty of Washington during the recent keynote speech of President Marcos at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

“When President Marcos Jr., for the first time in Philippine history, said that the Philippine territory is regulated by the Treaty of Paris as that was amplified, clarified and amended by the Treaty of Washington… That is factually, legally and historically correct,” said the former justice.

“That is our narrative. That is the correct story of the Philippines,” Carpio added.

Signed by Spain and the United States in 1900, the Treaty of Washington essentially amended the 1898 Treaty of Paris that granted the possession of various Spanish territories – including the Philippines – to the US.

Carpio said the second treaty was signed after several islands that are part of the Philippine territory were later discovered to be outside the treaty lines identified in the Paris treaty.

“There’s only one article in that Treaty of Washington: Spain also cedes to US any and all islands belonging to the Philippine archipelago, lying outside the lines of the Treaty of Paris,” said the former justice.

“It included all islands of the Philippine archipelago outside the lines. So the question is, what are the islands of the Philippine archipelago outside the lines? Where is that document? Where is that map?” he added.

Carpio referred to three Spanish-era maps that clearly showed features in the West Philippine Sea, including Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys, as part of Philippine territory.

China, he said, may have been misled by some legal luminaries from the Philippines who previously wrote that the Treaty of Paris excludes the features of West Philippine Sea as part of the Philippine territory.

“These are all wrong… (These) are factually, legally and historically false,” he said, referring to the previous positions made regarding the Paris treaty.

China’s admission

Carpio, however, revealed that China might have inadvertently supported the Philippine position when it invoked the Treaty of Washington during the arbitration filed by the Philippines.

While it maintained that it will not participate in the arbitration, it submitted a position paper saying that the Philippine territory is regulated by three treaties: the Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Washington and a treaty with Britain regarding the country’s southern borders.

“They mentioned the Treaty of Washington. They are bound by the Treaty of Washington… They didn’t read the text,” he said, stressing that the Treaty of Washington clarified the country’s territory.

“That position paper, under the law, that is a judicial admission, the highest form of admission. They admit that our territory is regulated also by the Treaty of Washington and that binds them,” he added.

Carpio welcomed Marcos’ speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, when he specifically invoked the Washington treaty.

“The Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States crystallized our islands into a cohesive whole. The Treaty of Washington clarified (that) the extent of our sovereignty and (our) patrimony (transcends the) lines set by international powers,” Marcos said in his speech.

“This speech of the President… that should be the marching order now. This is the first time there is such a declaration by the President. All our embassies, consulates should echo this now, this should be the narrative,” Carpio said.

CCG blocks evacuation

Meanwhile, apart from snatching airdropped supplies, the China Coast Guard or CCG also tried to stop the evacuation of a sick soldier from Ayungin Shoal to Palawan last month.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said this incident happened earlier than the rotation and resupply (RORE) mission to the BRP Sierra Madre on May 19.

According to the military, the CCG was able to block the first medical evacuation attempt. A second attempt, aided by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) the following day, was successfully carried out.

“One of our personnel got sick on board the BRP Sierra Madre and we attempted to bring (him) back to Palawan so that he could be treated. Unfortunately, during the first attempt of bringing our soldier out of the Second Thomas Shoal or Ayungin Shoal, they were blocked by the Chinese so we were not able to complete the medical evacuation,” said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the Armed Forces chief.

The incident adds to the long list of Chinese harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea with the latest involving the May 19 RORE that saw CCG personnel in inflatable boats competing to retrieve food and supplies airdropped to troops stationed at the Sierra Madre.

Brawner denied accusations that the military pointed their guns at the Chinese but admitted that soldiers manning the old grounded but active warship of the Philippine Navy are armed and have the right to defend themselves guided by the rules of engagement.

“Because of that intent of the CCG to get our supplies, they came very close to the BRP Sierra Madre and from the point of view of our soldiers, this pose a danger, a threat because they were too close. That is why there were videos, there were images of our soldiers carrying their guns. But again, I’d like to emphasize they did not point their guns to the Chinese. We follow the rules of engagement and our soldiers know that,” Brawner stressed.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers branded the interception of food supplies as a “barbaric act.”

“Its acts are barbaric and has no place in an already civilized world,” Barbers said as he condemned in strongest terms the latest attack on Filipinos protecting the West Philippine Sea.

“The latest uncalled for barbaric and inhumane attacks by the trespassers that are all caught on video deserve the highest condemnation from the international community. It did not only show unprovoked aggression, it placed the lives of our people in grave danger,” Barbers added.

The Surigao del Norte second district congressman urged the Marcos administration to file protests, which should not be limited to diplomatic note verbales but rather criminal complaints before international bodies.

“It was worse than the illegal water cannon aggression because it was almost like a hand-to-hand combat with our personnel scrambling to get back the air-dropped supplies for the Sierra Madre that were snatched by the Chinese, unmindful of their own safety,” Barbers said.

He added that the heroic act of Filipinos “deserve the highest commendation from our government” as they “risk their lives to bring food supplies to their fellow Filipinos and uphold the interest and honor of the country against all odds.”

Barbers strongly urged the President, “through the appropriate departments and agencies, to initiate the filing of criminal complaints before international bodies with jurisdiction over such criminal behavior.”

“We should not let this pass,” he said. –  Michael Punongbayan, Delon Porcalla, Emmanuel Tupas