BRP Cabra Maintains vigilant monitoring of Chinese Coast Guard Monster Ship near Zambales on January 5, 2025. PCG/File 

MANILA — The Philippine government has not ruled out the possibility of filing a new arbitration case against China due to its illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea.

Government agencies under the National Maritime Council (NMC) are currently studying the legal option.

“In respect to the progress, it is still under study. Everything is still under study,” Department of Justice Senior State Counsel Atty. Fretti Ganchoon told reporters during the NMC press briefing in Manila on Wednesday.

“On the part of the Philippines, the decision is not just a DOJ decision; it is an inter-agency decision. We have to wait and respect the decision-making process of the executive branch. It’s not just the decision of one department,” she added.

Earlier this year, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Philippines is in the process of deciding on an international case against China for alleged damage to the marine environment in the West Philippine Sea.

He had hinted at an environmental case against China as early as May 2024.

Environmental complaint vs China may be ready ‘in a few weeks’, says DOJ

Undersecretary Alexander Lopez, NMC spokesperson, said the government wants to make sure that the second international case against Beijing will be “foolproof.”

He explained that the government does not want to file a case until it has gathered all the information it needs.

“Pag meron na tayong lahat noon and foolproof na, then we will file whatever it is—environmental, etc.,” Lopez said.

(When we have all that and the case is already foolproof, then we will file)

He continued: “We will handle that through the DOJ and it will be coursed through the NMC for further vetting or considerations. That is how the process works.”

In 2012, Manila initiated an arbitration process to protest Beijing’s claims in almost the entire South China Sea.

Four years later, in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China’s dash-line claims. However, Beijing continues to ignore the decision.

Fishermen who joined the second Atin Ito-led civilian mission to Scarborough Shoal on May 16, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

NMC: ‘WE HAVE COVERED THE WEST PH SEA ADEQUATELY’

As part of the country’s continued vigilance, the Philippines has conducted 183 surface operations, 82 aerial operations, and 269 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations in the West Philippine Sea during the first quarter of the year, the NMC reported on Wednesday.

A total of 26 Philippine vessels and 14 aircraft were deployed to conduct maritime operations in the said waters from January to March.

Of the ships, eight were from the Philippine Coast Guard, ten were from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and eight were from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

DENR coordinates with NICA, Coast Guard on sand dumping incident in West Philippine Sea

The PCG also sent four aircraft for the missions while the BFAR deployed and two. The AFP provided eight aircraft for the various missions.

“Despite our meager resources, we have efficiently and effectively utilized them in order for us to cover a big amount of space. Ito ang tinatawag nating strategic presence in the West Philippine Sea,” Lopez said.

The NMC also reported that three resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal were conducted by the AFP and PCG during the said period.

The BFAR, meanwhile, conducted eight humanitarian resupply missions for Filipino fishermen.

The government has also monitored over 270 “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive” actions by China in the first quarter of the year.

These include dangerous maneuvers, radio challenges, shadowing, blocking, driving away of Philippine vessels, as well as disinformation.

For the said period, the Philippines has filed 21 diplomatic protests against China, according to the NMC.