"If the present administration is sleeping on their job, it's our duty to wake them up and to tell them to protect our sovereign rights," said Carpio. "Once we lose our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, we can never get it back... China will never return it."

See - http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/02/22/Antonio-Carpio-Duterte-South-China-Sea-militarization-for-PH-not-US.html


"x x x.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) — China's continued militarization in disputed islands in the South China Sea is a national threat, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned on Thursday.

"Every military and security analyst I know here and abroad agree that those military structures are designed to enforce the nine-dash line as China's national boundary," Carpio said on CNN Philippines' The Source. "In other words, [they're] there to grab the (exclusive economic zone) of the Philippines."

Carpio was responding to President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that China's military bases were developed to counter the United States.

"It's really intended against those who the Chinese think will destroy them, and that is America. Wala tayong kasali diyan [We're not involved]," Duterte said.

Duterte then reiterated that the Philippines could not afford to go to war. Under his term, the country has had warmer relations with the eastern giant, with Philippine officials refusing to raise the arbitral tribunal ruling that favors Philippine claims over the islands.

Carpio said that the dispute between China and the U.S. was about freedom of navigation and overflight, and China's presence on the disputed islands was for a different purpose.

He said the bases were "daggers pointed at our national security."

"From those islands, fighter jets can reach Palawan in less than 20 minutes. Radar facilities in those islands can detect any aircraft that lands or takes off from Palawan," said Carpio.

"They can easily send patrols to the Reed Bank to stop us from getting the gas," he added.

The Associate Justice recalled an incident in 2011 when a seismic surveying ship from the Philippines was blocked access to Reed Bank, a feature within the Philippines' EEZ.
Possible action points for PH

Carpio had three main proposals for how to assert the Philippines' rights over the disputed territory. One of these is a sea boundary agreement with Malaysia and Vietnam.

"By signing a sea boundary agreement with them, we are fortifying the ruling, [which] states there are no EEZs from those islands in the Spratly's. If there are no EEZs, there are no overlapping EEZs with Vietnam [and] Malaysia," said Carpio.

The justice also said the Philippines should file an extended continental shelf claim off the coast of Luzon.

"The only country that can oppose is China. If China does not oppose, then it will be awarded to us by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, just like Benham Rise," Carpio explained.

He said that if China would counter the Philippines' claim, it could no longer use the argumentation of the nine-dash line, which the arbitral tribunal invalidated.

Carpio's last suggestion was to send seismic survey vessels to Reed Bank, and to take the case to the arbitral tribunal if they were blocked from the area.

The Philippines should argue that it was suffering damages by not being able to access the natural gas, Carpio said. The Philippines is anticipating an energy shortage within the decade, and Reed Bank is one of the alternative sources.

"If China stops our seismic vessel, we can go to [the] UNCLOS tribunal... Then we can demand actual damages," he said.

Carpio added that if the Philippines is filing diplomatic protests, they have to make this public for the people's information.

"If the present administration is sleeping on their job, it's our duty to wake them up and to tell them to protect our sovereign rights," said Carpio. "Once we lose our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, we can never get it back... China will never return it."

Watch The Source's full interview with Carpio here.
x x x."