MANILA Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio T.

Carpio on
Thursday reiterated the call for the countrys plea for the United Nations
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to issue a provisional
remedy in the case of the West Philippine Sea - See more at:
http://www.zambotimes.com/archives/news/91102-Carpio-urges-PHL146;splea-for-provisional-remedy-in-the-case-of-West-Philippine-Sea-atITLOS.html#sthash.GvDndhUl.dpuf
Carpio made the call anew following the statement of Atty. Harry Roque that
the Philippines should take it slow to ask for a provisional remedy at the
ITLOS because of fears that China may insist that their reclamation activity is
part of their military and law enforcement activities in the disputed territory
that they are claiming.
Under the Article 290 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
if the protest is already submitted to the ITLOS, it may issue a provisional
measure to protect the right of each party in the case and to prevent any
serious environmental damage while the final decision in the protest is still
pending.
In his speech at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), Carpio
expressed doubts whether China would insist on their reservations at the
UNCLOS because in its position paper, it clearly states that the objective of
the reclamation activities is for "civilian function".
Carpio added that Article 88 of the UNCLOS also states that the high seas
such as the South China Sea is only for peaceful activities.
This provision of UNCLOS, Carpio said, prevents China to insist that the
objective of their reclamation is for military activities because if such is the
case, this is a blatant violation in the UNCLOS.
- See more at: http://www.zambotimes.com/archives/news/91102-Carpiourges-PHL146;s-plea-for-provisional-remedy-in-the-case-of-West-PhilippineSea-at-ITLOS.html#sthash.GvDndhUl.dpuf
It was learned that when China joined in the UNCLOS, it expressed its
reservations under Article 298 of the UNCLOS and declared that they do not
consider that the ITLOS has jurisdiction over the disputes involving their
military and law enforcement activities in territories where they have
sovereign rights. (PNA)