Carpio to DFA: Don’t sleep on the job

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), should not “sleep on the job” and must protest China’s expansive claim over almost the entire South China Sea with its so-called 10-dash line, retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio said.

According to Carpio, the country should invoke the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions Agreement or High Seas Treaty, which aims to regulate the waters beyond national jurisdictions, including waters within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the high seas.

“This treaty was adopted to implement that objective of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to preserve and protect the marine ecosystem in the entire world. So in essence, this is a good agreement... because it will preserve for humankind, for posterity, the living resources in that area. Because they said that life started in the oceans and life could die in the oceans, because without living organisms in the oceans, how can we survive?” he told Bilyonaryo News Channel on Friday.

While China ratified the agreement, Carpio said it “(declared) that the High Seas Treaty will not apply to areas where there are disputes in the sea” due to its 10-dash-line claim in the South China Sea that includes the West Philippine Sea.

He noted that “about a quarter of the South China Sea are high seas.”

“That means the South China Sea will not apply to areas that are under the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of China. And China claims jurisdiction over all the waters within the ten-dash line. So China is saying this treaty that we just ratified does not apply to the South China Sea,” he said.

Carpio called on the DFA to contest China’s claim, which supposedly invoked the doctrine of acquisitions under international law.

“There is a doctrine in international law that’s called the doctrine of acquisitions. If a state makes a claim that will prejudice the other states, like China will claim our EEZ, and if we do not protest within a reasonable time, we are deemed to have impliedly consented to that claim,” he explained.

Having been declared by China in December 2025, the Philippines should be able to dispute such claim by the end of this year, Carpio argued. He added there is a need to “put pressure on the government or the DFA” for the protest that should be filed within “a reasonable period,” and should not be delayed.

Meanwhile, fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas said it would not rally behind Teodoro over China’s sanctions against him and his family.

Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap accused Teodoro of criticizing Chinese incursions in the country’s EEZ while supporting increased United States military presence and activities. — Alexis Romero, Artemio Dumlao