File 'the right petition' before the UN, ex-envoy says

RETIRED ambassador Hermenegildo Cruz on Monday pushed for the filing of a petition before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for access to resources in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Cruz, who had served as ambassador to Chile, Bolivia, the Soviet Union and the UN, spoke with The Manila Times in a "TMT Newsroom" interview on Monday. "We need a two-thirds vote in the Security Council to win," he said. "I am certain that we will get more than that," he said, forecasting that the Philippines could get a 13-2 vote in the UNSC with a negative vote from China and Russia or a 13-1-1 with Russia abstaining. He said, "this is what you call a low-hanging fruit." The UNSC has 15 members. Its five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the council, they have veto power on substantive issues. Its non-permanent members are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland. Based on a document shared by Cruz, nine of the non-permanent members are littoral countries. "The uniting for peace resolution will only take effect if the Security Council is paralyzed by a veto," he said. "Just one vote from the permanent members will be a veto, but once it's in the UN General Assembly, it's one nation, one vote," he said. In theory, there's one way to circumvent a Security Council deadlock. That's by convening a "special emergency session" of the General Assembly within 24 hours of a vetoed resolution. A General Assembly resolution approved by a two-thirds majority would override the Security Council. Based on an executive summary by Cruz, 145 of the UN members are littoral countries that "benefitted from" the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). He had said in the executive summary that under the Unclos, these littoral countries were given, among others, a 200-mile exclusive economic zone from their shores. "Traditionally, the uniting for peace resolution is only a moral victory because the UN General Assembly doesn't have the authority to use force; it's only the Security Council which can do it," he said in the "TMT Newsroom" interview. Cruz believes that with a UNGA win, a coalition of willing countries that would escort Philippine vessels could be formed. But he said the government should not focus on China's bullying of Philippine vessels but on Beijing's aggression to prevent Filipinos from harnessing natural resources in the West Philippine Sea. He sought a "re-wording" of the Senate resolution condemning Chinese aggression in the WPS if the government wants to gain more support from other "littoral" countries or states situated on the shore or sea. "Bullying is not an international concern. We have to say that China denied us access [to our resources in the WPS]," Cruz told The Manila Times. "We must lead a PR (public relations) campaign. [We should] tell them that it is a low-hanging fruit. We may not have a chance [anymore]," Cruz said. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution 718 in 2023, urging the Department of Foreign Affairs to exhaust all diplomatic means to stop China's illegal activities in the WPS. The resolution also highlighted the need for the Philippine government to consolidate multilateral support for the enforcement of the 2016 Arbitral Award, which rejects China's expansive claims to the entire South China Sea. In a separate prepared statement, he said 145 littoral countries benefited from Unclos, while landlocked countries "did not get any similar benefits." He said that under Unclos, littoral countries' territorial waters were extended from three to 12 miles, they were given an EEZ of 200 miles from shore and gained an additional continental shelf of up to 350 miles. "Thus, we must submit the correct resolution to the UNSC. We must petition the UNSC to allow us unlimited access to the resources of the WPS as provided under Unclos. However, we must act now," Cruz said. Hontiveros said the Executive department should speed up the filing of a resolution to the UN General Assembly that calls on China to stop the rampant harassment of Filipinos in the WPS. The senator made the statement in June after four Philippine Navy personnel were injured due to China Coast Guard's firing of water cannons at Unaizah May, a Philippine resupply boat, en route to Ayungin Shoal. "I trust in our diplomats' will and capacity to take on this colossal task. The international community is already on our side, which is the side of truth. China has been violating international law again and again," Hontiveros said.