PHL embassy in Singapore joins int'l conference on legal dimension of South China Sea award

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 9): PHL embassy in Singapore joins int'l conference on legal dimension of South China Sea award

Officials of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore participated in the international conference on “The South China Sea Award: The Legal Dimension”, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a release issued on Monday.

Minister and Consul Gen. Victorio Mario Dimagiba Jr., acting in his capacity as Chargé d’Affaires, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonio Carpio, and other Philippine officials attended the conference at the invitation of the National University of Singapore's Centre for International Law (NUS-CIL), which organized the event last Jan. 5-6 at the Regent Hotel in Singapore.

They were joined by acting assistant secretary Atty. Leo Tito Ausan Jr., Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of Legal Affairs; executive director Evangeline Ong-Jimenez Ducrocq, DFA Office of Asia-Pacific Affairs; special assistant Ma. Antonina Mendoza-Oblena, DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Policy; principal assistant Anwar Ito, DFA Office of ASEAN Affairs; Assistant Solicitor General Atty. Hermes Ocampo; and Assistant Solicitor General Atty. Raymund Rigodon.

The conference gathered legal academics and experts to examine and exchange views on the legal elements of the Award in terms of jurisdiction, historic rights, the status and entitlements of features in the South China Sea, and the protection of the marine environment.

The participants also discussed the possible implications of the Award to jurisprudence on the law of the sea.

Prof. S. Jayakumar, Prof. Tommy Koh, Prof. Lucy Reed and Asst. Prof. Robert Beckman of NUS-CIL chaired the various sessions that featured a list of distinguished panelists.

Upon his arrival in Singapore, Cayetano met with Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, where they had an excellent discussion on possible future collaborations, as well as on developments in the Philippines and the region.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=953717