Taking the SCS row to the UN

WOULD bringing the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea to the attention of the United Nations General Assembly achieve anything?

Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio thinks so, and he was the first to suggest the move after Beijing has consistently rejected the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague favoring the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.

Two senators, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Tolentino immediately supported the Carpio position. Then two other senators, JV Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada, also greenlighted the proposal for the Department of Foreign Affairs to file a resolution seeking UNGA’s action to compel Beijing to respect the 2016 arbitral ruling.

China has been adamant in disregarding the Philippines’ landmark victory, which invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea that infringed on the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“China claims to be an ally and a friend (of the Philippines), but is harassing our fisherfolk,” Sen. Ejercito said. “We need to exhaust all diplomatic means to [protect] our claim [over] the West Philippine Sea.”

The senator noted that China Coast Guard and Chinese militia boats have been “aggressive and hostile” toward Philippine vessels, including small fishing boats, within the country’s territorial waters. For his part, Sen. Estrada also expressed support for a Senate resolution that Sen Hontiveros had filed on June 19 calling on the DFA to seek UNGA’s action to end China’s harassment of Philippine vessels within the country’s EEZ. He said he believed the majority of the senators would vote in favor of the Hontiveros resolution. “If that is the only way to stop China’s bullying, then go ahead. Let’s see what the UNGA can do to help us.”

Sen. Francis Escudero, however, offered a different perspective on the issue.

He pointed out that the arbitral ruling was “more binding and persuasive than a UNGA resolution.”

“The effect of a UNGA resolution lies in how it influences international law, especially customary international law,” Escudero, a lawyer, said. “I don’t believe it will add anything except ruffle feathers, especially taking into account Eastern culture and practice.”

Escudero said Marcos was correct in engaging China “in areas where we can cooperate and agree.”

The Philippine government, therefore, should seek international support to exert pressure on Beijing to abide by the 2016 arbitral ruling and abandon their claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, which covers the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone

“[This can be done] without necessarily giving up on our rights and sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and, in fact, asserting it with the use of our limited resources and diplomatic ties with our western allies,” the senator said.

It’s not just lawmakers but also people’s organizations directly affected by the standoff in the South China who want the Philippine government to reassert the country’s national sovereignty during the 78th Session of the UNGA in September.

The fisherfolk group Pamalakaya believes President Marcos Jr. should take to the inter- national arena the troubles of Filipino fishermen in the country’s territorial waters amid China’s aggressive presence.

And that’s not the end of it.

In a manifesto of support signed by dozens of officials calling themselves “One Cebu Island,” composed of lawmakers, city and municipal mayors as well as councilors, they said they stood by the Tourism Secretary, a fellow Cebuano and daughter of the provincial governor.

They called the recent criticisms against the DOT and Frasco a “coordinated demolition job” directed at the latter’s leadership, but did not explain how and why.

What’s the real score in this controversy? We really don’t know at this point, given the flurry of exchanges between the two sides.

Perhaps a congressional investigation in aid of legislation will allow the public to sift fact from fiction, or the truth from falsehood.

The least that should be done is for the DOT to fully explain its actions on selling the Philippines and whether its plans and programs are aboveboard and will really attract more tourists, not drive them away. As thing now stand, the “Love the Philippines” tourism drive is off to a bad start, and could really go off the rails unless the DOT clears the air.

Pamalakaya claims fisherfolk in Zambales province have been losing 70 percent of their daily income since China seized control of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in 2012.

The China’s aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea, accompanied by largescale poaching activities, has resulted in marine degradation and fish stock depletion, the group said.

The Philippine government, therefore, should seek international support to exert pressure on Beijing to abide by the 2016 arbitral ruling and abandon their claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, which covers the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“Marcos] should not miss this very opportunity to seek international support in recovering our territorial waters, and as part of his commitment to boost agricultural productivity and achieve local food security,” they added.

Another local fisherfolk group, the New Masinloc Fisherman’s Association, likewise welcomed the proposal, saying the government should insist that China recognize the arbitral ruling and ratify it “because the Chinese rule the area and take advantage of our marine resources…That’s where we fishermen are struggling because we do not benefit from our own marine resources.”

We fully support the Carpio proposal and hope that other lawmakers, the business sector and civil society groups will likewise stand behind the former Supreme Court justice in bringing to the broader international community our demand for Beijing to recognize the 2016 arbitral ruling. This ruling clearly rejected the “nine-dash line” that China has unilaterally declared over nearly all of the South China Sea as its part of its own territory, a claim that has no legal nor historical basis except Beijing’s say-so.

(Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)

THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), a noisy and troublesome group of teachers believed to be associated with or sympathetic to local communists, managed to land in the news reports of one of the daily newspapers some weeks ago.

In the said news report, the ACT accused the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of “red-tagging” the group. More specifically, the ACT protested that it has been repeatedly linked by the military to the local communist movement. The group claimed the most recent “redtagging” incident took place during a press conference weeks ago by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC).

A certain Raymond Basilio, who calls himself the ACT secretary-general, publicly made the non sequitur conclusion the “red-tagging” unduly affects the teachers’ freedom of association.

Purportedly for that reason, Basilio wants the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to censure government agencies engaged in “red-tagging” not just of the ACT but of other similarly-minded organizations.

The ACT spokesman also said the group has protested the matter before the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Basilio’s protestations are sheer nonsense.

Government officials and employees, and any person living in the Philippines for that matter, have the right to express views on any matter of public interest and concern.

That right is guaranteed under the Constitution, and finds support in jurisprudence.

Since the ACT has a penchant for claiming certain government agencies allegedly violate human rights, that makes the group fair game for public criticism.

“Red-tagging” is not even a crime in our statute books.

Thus, it is absurd for the grandstanding Basilio to urge the CHR to censure anyone engaged in “red-tagging.”

Further, ACT’s complaint lodged with the ILO is pure fabrication because not a single teacher affiliated with the ACT has been prohibited by the government from continuing their membership in the said organization, or from associating themselves with elements publicly perceived by many to be communists.

Besides, why did the ACT run to the ILO, instead of protesting the matter with the Department of Labor and Employment, or with the courts of law in the country?

What the ACT did certainly confirms public suspicion that their protestations are groundless, and that Basilio’s public statements are designed to get the ACT free publicity, and nothing more. To repeat, Basilio’s statements are sheer nonsense. If the ACT is unhappy about its current reputation, it has only itself to blame for the same. The ACT’s press announcements are almost always against the government.

It has never criticized the many atrocities committed by violent cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front troika in the countryside. I have yet to hear the ACT denounce the late CPP founder and puppetmaster Jose Ma. Sison for living a life of luxury in his exile in Holland, or decry communist cadres who extort “revolutionary taxes” from businesses operating in the provinces.

Moreover, the ACT toes the same political line as other organizations perceived to be sympathetic to the local communists, if not allied with the latter.

It is plausible to say the foregoing observations may be the reasons why the NTL-ELCAC believes the ACT and similarly-minded organizations are front organizations of local communists.

If the ACT is really an organization of concerned teachers, it should condemn the communists who have infiltrated the ranks of teachers and students in colleges and universities.

Instead of teaching what should be taught in the classrooms, teachers aligned with or sympathetic to the local communist movement must spend most of their working hours brainwashing their students with communist ideologies, preaching hatred for the duly-elected government, and calling for its violent overthrow.

Teachers of this kind have zero tolerance for anyone who disagrees with their red ideology, and they are quick in castigating critics of communism. These teachers are so obsessed with communist ideologies that their skills as educators have dulled through the years due to misuse or nonuse.

I’ve listened to many radical teachers and students featured in the television news and almost all of them can’t even speak in straight English and are inarticulate.

Many teachers and professors in the University of the Philippines are communist sympathizers.

Instead of earning their salaries as classroom educators, they preach radical politics in class and convince their students to hate the government.

To repeat, they are absolutely intolerant of views that differ from theirs, and they conceitedly think their public statements should be considered gospel truth by everybody.

This was well-felt during the shortlived term of UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, who lost his bid for UP president last year, and who failed to get himself re-elected as chancellor recently, notwithstanding the purported display of support he got from campus radicals and a few opinionated faculty members.

In Brief

DMW to improve OFW hospital in Pampanga

THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has vowed to improve the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Hospital facilities and staffing in Pampanga after Senator Raffy Tulfo criticized the hospital for having poor service.

DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac made the remarks in a radio interview DZBB, saying they are now coordinating with Senator Tulfo’s office regarding his concerns.

The DMW official has reacted to the senator’s observation on the OFW hospital after the latter made a visit to the hospital and found out that there are no patients at the OFW Hospital.

Tulfo also said that its outpatient department is closed on weekends and is only accepting 10 walk-in patients per day.

In an interview, Cacdac said he will ask the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to address the staffing issue and improve the facilities of the hospital.

Vito Barcelo

CAAP seals connectivity pact with South Korea

THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Thursday announced its partnership with the South Korean government aimed at encouraging coordination and enhancing connectivity between the two countries.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said South Korean embassy officials visited the agency’s main office in Pasay City last Wednesday.

“The enhanced cooperation between the CAAP and its South Korean counterpart is expected to pave the way for increased flights and routes to major tourism destinations,” said CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio.

On June 24, Korean’s Air Busan launched its commercial service flight to and from the Province of Bohol.

Air Busan flight BX 7135 with 217 passengers on board arrived successfully and was welcomed by CAAP, airport and local government officials at the Bohol - Panglao International Airport (BPIA).

Joel E. Zurbano

DHSUD: More housing projects in the pipeline

DEPARTMENT of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzaron on Thursday cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s focus and dedication to look after the welfare of homeless Filipinos through the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program.

He said there are about 20 projects in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao that are now in various stages of ground activities and construction.

As a testament to his support to DHSUD, the President inspected the ongoing construction of the Crystal Peak Estates in Barangay Del Carmen, City of San Fernando, Pampanga.

The project is a 9.8-hectare multistory development to benefit over 10,200 families in the public and private sector, including overseas Filipino workers and personnel of the local government, Department of Education, Philippine National Police, and Armed Forces of the Philippines. Rio N. Araja