Romero, Erie Clyde H.

October 10, 2016

2011339211

Atty. Eirene Aguila

Reaction Paper:

The Philippine government should ensure that the verdict would be optimized to
advance the national interest by reshaping Chinas behavior, enhancing the
Philippines position in the disputed waters, and defending its territorial claims.
We dont want war, for sure.
The Philippines should also seek maximum support and virtual strategic
guarantee from international partners, particularly America and Japan, to enforce
the verdict, which is binding but has been vociferously opposed by China. It is
high time for the United States to clarify whether its mutual defense treaty with
the Philippines means that it will come to its allys rescue if the situation gets out
of control. The current policy of strategic ambiguity has created too much
ambiguity without providing any significant strategic gains, since China has
pushed ahead with its expansive claims in recent years without much selfrestraint.
The West cant expect the Philippines to shoulder the costs of confrontation with
China on its own. The Philippines cant take up the cudgels for international law
singlehandedly. After all, the arbitration case is binding, but not enforceable
unless the global powers step up to the plate.