PAULIT ULIT ako dahil hanggang ngayon hindi pa ninyo na-memorize at hindi pa rin nag-sink in sa inyo ang kaCHINONGALINGAN ninyo: illegal at imperyalista ang ginagawa ninyo sa West Philippine Sea. Kailangan ko ring ulit-ulitin ang pagsagot sa kaCHINONGALINGAN ninyo dahil baka makapambudol na naman kayo ng mga Pilipino!
1. "Sovereignty" over Panganiban Reef and Zamora Reef. I am not confusing sovereignty with jurisdiction. The Tribunal is the one that settled this: Panganiban Reef and Zamora Reef are low-tide elevations. Under UNCLOS, a low-tide elevation is not land territory, generates no territorial sea of its own, and cannot be appropriated by any state. Nobody can have "sovereignty" over Panganiban Reef. It sits within the Philippine EEZ and continental shelf, and the Tribunal found that China built on it, and on Zamora, without any lawful basis.
2. The "farce" that fourteen governments and the EU just reaffirmed. The Article 298 argument was raised, examined, and rejected in the Tribunal's 2015 jurisdiction ruling. The Philippines never asked for delimitation or sovereignty. It asked whether China's claims were lawful under a treaty China ratified. China chose not to appear; Annex VII says non-appearance does not defeat jurisdiction. As for the DOC, it is a non-binding political declaration, and the Tribunal held it did not bar arbitration.
On the "more than 40 governments" who supposedly have no right to speak: two months ago, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, the Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, the UK and the US jointly reaffirmed that the Award is final, legally binding and definitive between China and the Philippines, and that there is no legal basis for China's expansive claims, including those based on historic rights. The EU High Representative separately declared the Award final and legally binding and said it must be respected and fully implemented. Japan's Foreign Minister stated that China's refusal to accept the Award undermines the rule of law in the international community.
If these countries had "no right" to comment, Beijing would have ignored them. Instead, China's Foreign Ministry lodged strong protests with the diplomatic missions of the countries concerned and the EU delegation. You do not summon fourteen ambassadors over waste paper.
3. "Who is provoking whom?" Every incident on the embassy's list happens in one place: inside the Philippine EEZ.
Ayungin Shoal: the Tribunal ruled it is within the Philippine EEZ and continental shelf. BRP Sierra Madre sits on Philippine seabed. There is no Chinese sovereignty there to "infringe."
Bajo de Masinloc: the Tribunal ruled that China unlawfully blocked Filipino fishermen from their traditional fishing grounds. In July this year, CCG water cannons hit BFAR vessels on a fuel-subsidy mission for those same fishermen, and MRRV-4408 the next day. Then a Chinese survey vessel loitered off the shoal for weeks with no permit and finally left our EEZ on 09 September. That is not "necessary measures." That is a coast guard, a survey fleet, and a self-declared "nature reserve" enforcing an invalidated claim.
Escoda Shoal: about 75 nautical miles from Palawan. A Philippine ship anchoring inside the Philippine EEZ is not a provocation. Chinese ships ramming it was.
Pag-asa Cays: Filipinos landing on Philippine features beside a Philippine municipality. The embassy calls this "illegal landings" and counts our personnel. We call it going home.
The fourteen-country statement said it directly: strong opposition to the use of coast guard, military and maritime militia forces to harass, obstruct or intimidate lawful operations by other states at sea. Only one country in the South China Sea does that.
So here is the same challenge, repeated: if China's case is as "indisputable" as claimed, bring it to a tribunal. Until then, we will keep showing the cameras, and I will keep being repetitive.