Name: Cheenee F.

Bulanon Date: 9-16-19

Grade and Section: Gr.11 Humss E Rating:

“Until now China will not stop claiming Scarborough shoal even they
already know that the Scarborough Shoal belong to the Philippines”

Why China is Pursuing for claiming Scarborough shoal even it is favorable for the soverenity
of the Philippines?

Two years into Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, the Philippines has once again found itself
embroiled in maritime tensions with China.

Despite the Philippine president’s best efforts to place bilateral relations on an even keel, the
long-simmering dispute over the Scarborough Shoal is once again threatening to torpedo an
otherwise blossoming partnership.

The renewed tensions underscore the persistent sensitivity of the maritime spats to the Filipino
public, which still remains largely sceptical of Duterte’s China-friendly approach.

If Duterte and Beijing fail to agree on a mutually acceptable modus vivendi, the two neighbours
may once again find themselves in troubled waters.

From Manila’s standpoint, the shoal is part of the Philippines’ national territory. Philippine
maritime law experts argue that the country has exercised continuous and effective sovereignty
over the shoal since the Spanish colonial era.

Under the Philippine Baselines Law of 2009 (Republic Act 9522), the Philippine government
classified the Scarborough Shoal as part of a group of islands under the Republic of the
Philippines.

For me the Philippines has the right to claim the Scarborough shoal because the legal basis of
the Philippines assertion is based on the international law on acquisition of sovereignty. Thus,
the government explains that its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claim on the waters
around Scarborough Shoal is different from the sovereignty exercised by the on the shoal itself.
This comes at a time when the stand-off over the Scarborough Shoal has matured to the status of
an international dispute. It involves rivaling claims on points of law or fact between the People’s
Republic China (PRC) and the Republic of the Philippines (RP). PRC calls the shoal as
Huangyan island while RP refers to it as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal as advanced and
published in their respective governmental positions, albeit their claims for de facto sovereignty
and territory. Employing mainly descriptive, historical, documentary and content analyses
techniques, this dwells on the character of Scarborough Shoal in the perspective of international
law, the conflicting claims of the PRC and RP with their respective governmental positions, the
mechanisms for settlement of an international dispute as provided for by the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and whether or not the Philippines can avail of
the said remedies and how can the Scarborough Shoal be settled employing international law,
rules and principles. The UNCLOS provides for a mechanism in Part XV, for settlement of
disputes, ranging from the pacific modes of dispute settlement to resort to compulsory
mechanisms entailing binding decisions. It is also provided that sans a choice of procedure, only
Arbitration under Annex VII, the Hamburg Tribunal, is available, and this, the Philippines
followed when it submitted its notification and statement of claims. Based on the international
jurisprudence on related issues, there are rarely a winner and a loser. However, having studied
the current situation principally in the light of the UNCLOS III, which favors the position of the
Philippines, one is forced to recognize that oceans and their basic rules - droit de la mer- existed
before UNCLOS. Certainly, the final settlement of the issues hereinbefore presented will go
beyond the confines of UNCLOS.

For me china has no right to claim the Scarborough Shoal . but it is alright that Chinese will stay
here but not to claim the territory that belong to the Philippines The shoal's status is often
discussed in conjunction with other territorial deputes in the south china sea such as those
involving the Spratly Island, and the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff. It formerly was
administered by the Philippines, however, due to the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff, where
China sent warships to invade the shoal, the administration of the shoal was taken by the People's
Republic of China. It was initially expected for the United States to defend the territory of the
Philippines during the standoff as the two nations had a Mutual Defense Treaty, however, the
United States chose to move itself away from the tension, and used 'verbal protests' against
China instead. The aftermath of the standoff ultimately strained Philippines-China relations and
Philippines-United States relations, resulting in Filipino officials calling the United States an
'unreliable ally', a statement echoed by other nations. The event also solidified China's
expansionist ideals in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2013, the Philippines solely filed an
international case against China in the UN-backed court in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2016, the
court officially dismissed China's so-called "9-dash claim" in the entire South China Sea and
upheld the Philippine claim. China rejected the UN-backed international court's decision and sent
more warships in Scarborough Shoal and other islands controlled by China.