Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Wednesday an arms race could result from ongoing regional tension over the nine-dash claims of China over the South China Sea.
Carpio said an unfavorable ruling on the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China would mean that the rule of law will not apply in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) to protect the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
"So how do we protect our EEZ or extended continental shelf? We have to pay more taxes to buy war planes, warships, anti-missile ships and so on. That’s the only way. There will be a naval arms race," Carpio said in a press conference after briefing the senators on the WPS.
He said the arms race is already underway.
"The nations around South China Sea are beefing up their navy, their air force and this will escalate if there is no ruling. If the nine-dash line is allowed to stand...That will really be terrible because resources devoted to education, infrastructure, and social services will go to buying weapons," Carpio added.
The associate justice suggested that there should be an institute or group dedicated to studying the country's oceans and maritime resources.
"Right now, I don’t see any institute that’s focused on this. This is not for a short term, this is for long term because we have Benham Rise and that’s rich in resources. How do we exploit? What is the revenue sharing that we want? How do we preserve it? How do we maximize the return? We need to study all of these," he said.
Carpio noted that the South China Sea dispute will be a long term tension as China will not roll over if the Philippines wins the case before the arbitral tribunal at The Hague.
"This is the most important national security facing the country, I believe, in the next 15 years. So we have to continue to study. So we need a dedicated group to do this," he said.
He also said the Philippines can convince the ASEAN neighbors to agree that territorial dispute should be submitted to arbitration by the International Court of Justice.
"So among ourselves, we’ve agreed and then we invite China. If China does not join then it will be seen by the world as refusing to settle the territorial dispute. So I think we can get our ASEAN neighbors to agree to that," he said.
"We are now integrating ASEAN economically. We don’t need border wars with our ASEAN neighbors," he added.
Carpio said if ever there is a ruling declaring the nine-dash line as void under international law, the Philippines can ask the world to support the country.
"We can sponsor a resolution in the (UN) General Assembly, asking China to comply with international law, to comply with the ruling. China should not be a rogue nation, and should follow the rule of law," he said.
Carpio said a victory of the Philippines at the arbitral tribunal will also benefit Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
"So I think there will be a large majority of the countries that will be supporting us in demanding that China comply with the ruling if the ruling will be favorable to us," he said.
In an hour and half of closed-door briefing with senators, Carpio gave the overview and the history of the claims of China, and the latest on what is happening in The Hague and the arbitration case, and his thoughts on what to expect from the decision.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/532725/news/nation/south-china-sea-dispute-could-escalate-arms-race-among-claimants-justice-carpio
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