The Hague—The final time I used to be right here, upon the invitation of the Dutch international ministry and en path to a lecture at Leiden College, it was too chilly and too darkish to benefit from the quaint metropolis. However I used to be conscious that it was on this seemingly unassuming nook of Europe the place the foundations of a rules-based worldwide order had been established. The standard-sized metropolis hosts the troika of worldwide legislation, particularly the Everlasting Courtroom of Arbitration (PCA), the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ), and the Worldwide Prison Courtroom (ICC). To not point out, among the most interesting authorized minds on earth, together with our Ambassador Eduardo Malaya, grace its streets.
Gladly, I managed to go to the great ambassador, whom I’ve recognized for the previous decade, because of the intersection of our curiosity within the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the broader worldwide authorized panorama. A day earlier, my discuss at The Hague on the Arbitral Tribunal Award anniversary and China’s bullying actions was unexpectedly canceled as a consequence of loss of life threats in opposition to among the people attending a previous occasion in the identical constructing. One way or the other, phrases had gone round that I had attracted pointless consideration, too, primarily because of my vocal stance on the South China Sea disputes. In one other main shock, the climate additionally went off-kilter: I ended up experiencing simply as a lot rain, chilly, and an overcast day in summertime Netherlands as I did in wintertime New Zealand final month.
Malaya and his beautiful workforce warmly welcomed me to our gorgeously refurbished embassy at The Hague. Lovely work. Tastefully beautiful chandelier. A grand piano. Two busts of Rizal, one within the backyard and one other within the arrival corridor. All thanks to non-public donations by patriots in addition to the impeccable management of our ambassador to the Netherlands, who made positive that the Philippines receives its due recognition as one of many pillars of contemporary worldwide legislation.
As a full-fledged authorized scholar and the present president of the Administrative Council of PCA, Malaya was very happy to remind me of the numerous Filipino greats within the subject, notably ICJ Decide Cesar Bengzon, who now has a newly inaugurated corridor named after him in our gorgeously dignified embassy at The Hague; Florentino Feliciano, who served because the chair of the Appellate Physique of the World Commerce Group; and Raul Pangalangan, who served as a choose on the ICC.
From our ilustrados within the late nineteenth century, notably Pedro Paterno and Apolinario Mabini, to our Commonwealth-era leaders, who advocated for colonial folks within the League of Nations, the Filipino was the voice of the colonial peoples within the title of a rules-based worldwide order. Within the post-war period, our legendary diplomats equivalent to Carlos Romulo and Salvador Lopez would construct on this admirable legacy by, inter alia, changing into a significant pressure within the United Nations, together with the event of a common constitution of human rights.
In the meantime, the Philippines additionally performed a key function within the growth of the United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea by deftly fostering solidarity and strategically negotiating a typical stance with fellow post-colonial archipelagic nations in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. In the meantime, the Manila Declaration on the Peaceable Settlement of Worldwide Disputes offered the normative and authorized foundations for a brand new world authorized structure, which protected the pursuits of weaker and nonaligned post-colonial nations.
Towards this illustrious backdrop, it was virtually inevitable for us to invoke worldwide legislation in opposition to China’s aggression within the WPS, particularly our unique financial zone (EEZ) throughout the South China Sea basin. What we lacked in army capability, we greater than compensated for in authorized prowess.
For the previous century, the best Filipino minds and patriots have been champions of worldwide legislation, exactly as a result of the rule of legislation is our greatest antidote to all permutations of imperialism and superpower bullying. Due to our authorized warfare, a number of regional states, together with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, can invoke our arbitral tribunal award to withstand China’s expansionism of their respective EEZs. Crucially, world powers may invoke our arbitral tribunal ruling to query China’s baseless and extreme claims throughout the South China Sea. We could also be confronting turbulent waters nowadays, however the arc of historical past bends towards worldwide justice.
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