By Perfecto Caparas

WHAT do you call Beijing’s usurpation and unlawful appropriation of all economic resources within Manila’s own exclusive economic zone?

“Grand theft,” says former Philippine Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Carpio.

On 12 July 2016, the Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) struck down, with finality, Beijing’s fictional nine-dash line as “contrary to the Convention and without lawful effect”.

Yet, Asia’s superpower, to this day, fraudulently claims virtually the entire South China Sea as “Chinese territory.”

People Power

Let us commemorate the upcoming 36th anniversary of the Philippine “People Power Revolution” by mounting our peaceful resistance against Beijing’s unlawful usurpation of the South China Sea – humanity’s global commons.

We demonstrated our spirit of active nonviolence when we toppled down despot Ferdinand E. Marcos during our historic “People Power Revolution” from 22-25 February 1986.

Let us summon this spirit of peaceful, nonviolent revolution, once again, in vigorously and militantly driving out Beijing from our seas. Together, let us assert the letter and spirit of our nation’s 1987 Constitution: “Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.” (Section 1, Article II, Declaration of Principles and State Policies)

Militarization

Political, diplomatic, economic, and legal measures need to be undertaken to compel Beijing to return our reefs and other geologic features China has cunningly and forcibly seized from us and other coastal states in the region.

These must include demands, actions, and suits for compensation for the harmful environmental impact Beijing’s artificial island-building, fishing, and military activities have wrought upon our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Revolution through Law

This time, let us also invoke the late Filipino senator Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno’s principle of “Revolution through Law” in peacefully fighting Beijing’s blatant incursions into our 12-nautical mile territorial seas and 200-nm EEZ.

Employing the power and moral force of the law, our political and congressional leaders must heed the clamor of our people to firmly and uncompromisingly demand before various diplomatic forums and bodies – like the ASEAN and UN General Assembly – that Beijing complies with The Hague’s final and legally binding arbitral award In the Matter of the South China Sea Arbitration case.

Civil society organizations

In solidarity with our people, especially our fisherfolks – the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, civil society organizations, and governmental organizations must coalesce and spearhead various legal and metalegal activities in asserting our own sovereignty over our territorial seas and sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our EEZ.

Metalegal tactics

Diokno – who survived incommunicado detention during martial law – coined the phrase “metalegal tactics” to denote actions that are neither expressly permitted, nor explicitly proscribed by law.

Legal and metalegal tactics complement each other.

Conscientization, mobilizations

Our people-powered legal and metalegal actions are anchored on the mandate of our 1987 Constitution – “The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.” (Section 2(2), Article XII, National Economy and Patrimony)

Our legal actions must synergize with mass conscientization and mobilization efforts aimed at resisting Beijing’s illegal occupation of our seas and theft of our marine wealth.

This photo by an unknown author is under CC-BY SA.

These initiatives by NGO and governmental organizations will help further cement our national cohesion and solidarity in reclaiming our seas.

Asians, unite

Filipinos and Asian peoples must organize and draw from our collective power and experience of active nonviolence in opposing Beijing’s brazen acts of infringing and trampling upon our nations’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our own EEZs.

Solidarity

From these seeds will grow international solidarity and unity among Asian peoples and citizens from the rest of the world. We can, thus, all forge an unbeatable united front in asserting UNCLOS and the arbitral award that legally binds, with finality, Beijing, an UNCLOS state party.

About Perfecto Caparas. Writes regularly for Pressenza and Pinoy Publiko. He served as a journalist of The Manila Times, Ang Pahayagang Malaya, The Philippine Post, Pinoy Gazette, UCANews, and ISYU Newsmagazine. He is a licensed attorney and lifetime member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.