Philippine stance The Philippine's decision to initiate the arbitration was prompted by the 2012 Scarborough Shoal fishing dispute and the standoff that resulted during the dispute.
Philippines-China relations have lately been dominated by the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, which has escalated since the naval standoff over the Scarborough Shoal in April 2012 and aggravated by issues of Chinese illegal occupation, unlawful establishment of infrastructures, and incidents of ...
In its ruling, the Tribunal firmly rejected any PRC territorial or maritime claim to areas determined by the Tribunal to be part of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. As provided under the Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines.
Arbitration in the Philippines is governed principally by Republic Act No. 9285, otherwise known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 (“RA 9285” or the “ADR Act”).
It concluded that China breached the provisions of UNCLOS, in particular by (a) temporarily prohibiting fishing in areas of the South China Sea falling within the Philippines' EEZ, (b) failing to prevent Chinese vessels from fishing in the Philippines' EEZ at Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal and (c) preventing ...
On July 12, 2016, the arbitral tribunal adjudicating the Philippines' case against China in the South China Sea ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines, determining that major elements of China's claim—including its nine-dash line, recent land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters— ...
On July 12, 2016, the arbitral tribunal adjudicating the Philippines' case against China in the South China Sea ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines, determining that major elements of China's claim—including its nine-dash line, recent land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters— ...
The Philippines claims the northeastern section of the Spratly Islands as the Kalayaan Island Group, in addition to the Scarborough Shoal, which it calls the Bajo de Masinloc. Malaysia claims part of the Kalayaan Island, while China and Taiwan claim the entirety of the island group.
Bilateral ties took a downturn when the Philippine government filed an arbitration case against China under the United Na-tional Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in January 2013 challenging the legality of China's nine-dash line claim over the contested waters.