Prof. Jay Batongbacal: “Dutertismo and the West Philippine Sea: Year One”

In an article published by Rappler.com last June 30, Prof. Jay Batongbacal addressed the country’s eventual policy in dealing with China in issues over the West Philippine Sea a year after after the conclusion of the Philippines v. China case against the latter’s “nine-dash line” claim in the area.

The director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea stressed that while the government’s calculated willingness to communicate with China has moved the country toward a position of non-alignment and has reaped apparent benefits, “it has not generated any assurance that China will not impose itself and its pre-emptive claim over waters and resources that legally pertain to the Philippines.”

Citing the increasing strength of Chinese forces all over the disputed territory—to which the government has only made muted responses—the country’s compromising policy has resulted to conceding “most of what matters in the West Philippine Sea, save for the literal ‘4 corners of that piece of paper.’”

The full article may be accessed through this link: http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/174325-dutertismo-west-philippine-sea-year-one