Philippines must go on information drive to assert maritime claim: Carpio
Senior Associate Justice Carpio said the Philippines should start an information campaign to show people China has no historic rights to the disputed isles in the South China Sea.
In this way, people can inform the Chinese that what has been taught to them from Grade 1 to College is totally false, he said.
“They have to give up that claim so that their government can now be free to accept the ruling,” he said at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) Prospects Forum Thursday in Makati.
Carpio said he is disappointed with the government’s action as the intention of China is very clear.
“China is still after our EEZ… There are many ways in strengthening our position… I’m not happy but (I) can’t do anything,” he said.
He said the arbitral tribunal settled everything on the maritime dispute.
“China lost, we won. We have full EEZ (exclusive economic zone) of 20 nautical miles but did China ever historically own or possess the South China Sea? No,” Carpio said as he showed the evidences they presented in 2016 at an international court at The Hague, Netherlands.
“There is no earlier map from China or from Vietnam showing that Spratlys or the Scarborough Shoal belongs to them,” he added.
Carpio showed in his presentation the 1734 Philippine map that showed Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys were part of the Philippines.
“This map is an official map because of its cartouche, the coat of arms of the crown of Spain. The Spanish king of that time, King Phillip V of Spain instructed Governor General (Francisco Valdez y) Tamon to make a map of Philippine territory at that time or the Philippine archipelago and Governor General Tamon commissioned Father Pedro Murillo Velarde to make that map,” he explained.
He then presented the ancient maps of China to disprove their historical nine-dash line.
Carpio said if one superimposes all dynasty maps of China, Chinese territory ended in Hainan.
“(They) never included the Paracels, never included the Spratleys, never included the Scarborough Shoals,” he said.
Carpio debunked China’s sovereignty stone markers at the Paracel and Spratly islands after their own publication said its not genuine.
“The Chinese are saying we own the Spratlys because of the sovereignty markers and these were placed during the Qing dynasty,” he said.
“Are these real? Are these authentic stone markers? They’re fake, totally fake,” he added. “Their own official publication showed that they planted fake sovereignty markers. That is still an editor’s note”.
In the website of the Chinese Embassy in Manila it claimed they own Scarborough Shoal in 1279 after a famous Chinese astronomer placed an observatory in the island.
“Obviously that’s a lie and physically it also cannot be done,” Carpio said, adding the Chinese government removed the claim on their website.
He said war is not an option in addressing the sea disputes that’s why they resort to the rule of law when China seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012.
“We did not send the marines to take back Scarborough Shoal we sent our lawyers to The Hague to invalidate the nine-dash line and we won and we should continue to resort to the rule of law,” he added. Ella DIonisio
