The ruling of an international tribunal which favored the Philippines will be the basis for decisions by the government in resolving maritime disputes with China, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Thursday in his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“This commitment to the rule of law, to peace, to our people, and to our relations with the international community...extends to the current decision of the arbitral tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. President Duterte is uncompromising in his position that whatever track the Philippines pursues will be based on the decision of the Tribunal,” Yasay said.

Yasay said the award handed down by the court in The Hague which supported Philippine maritime rights “is final and binding to all parties.”

“It is a clearly established fact and now part of international jurisprudence in the maritime domain,” Yasay said.

China insists it owns nearly all of the South China Sea, which the court says does not have any legal basis under international law.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have claims on the waters, where undersea oil and gas deposits have been reportedly found.

“The Philippines views the as a guiding light for every decision made or action taken. Any unilateral action that is not rules-based will not be taken,” Yasay said.

Yasay said the Philippines looks forward to doing confidence-building measures, but said it is also committed to “the peaceful resolution of disputes, including full respect for legal and diplomatic processes.”

China said it wants to resume formal bilateral negotiations with the Philippines after relations soured when Manila filed its arbitration case in 2013. But Beijing said Manila should set aside the ruling. DMS