CIRSS Commentaries
Regular short publication by the research specialists of FSI which serves as a timely response and brief analysis of latest regional and global developments and issues that impact Philippine foreign policy.
Illuminating China’s Use of Directed-Energy Weapons
by: Karla Mae G. Pabeliña
CIRSS Commentaries, July 2023
On 13 February 2023, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) released information on the use of “military-grade” lasers by the China Coast Guard (CCG) against the crew of BRP Malapascua during the latter’s resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) on 6 February 2023. Based on the video and photos taken during the incident, the CCG vessel hit the BRP Malapascua with a green laser which caused temporary blindness to the PCG crew.
Revisiting the Need for a Legally Binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea: Chasing a Moving Target
by: Edcel John A. Ibarra
CIRSS Commentaries, Volume 7, Number 1, March 2021
Legal bindingness is one of the most contentious points in the consultations between ASEAN countries and China on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). Legal bindingness will differentiate the COC from the nonbinding 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC); after all, a legally binding agreement was the original vision of the ASEAN countries when COC discussions with China first started in 1999.
by: Edcel John A. Ibarra
CIRSS Commentaries, Volume 5, Number 5, March 2018
The filing of a case against China was a historic moment in Philippine foreign relations: it was the first time that the Philippines resorted to the international judiciary to settle a political dispute.1 In retrospect, the effort was well worth it, at least from a legal standpoint. On 12 July 2016, three years since filing the case on 22 January 2013, the Philippines secured a favorable ruling which clarified important aspects of the South China Sea disputes. However, the new Philippine administration decided to set aside the Award.
by: Julio S. Amado and Edcel John A. Ibarra
CIRSS Commentaries, Volume 3, Number 9, July 2016
There were arguments that the Philippine government should not have solely relied on international courts to manage the country’s most pressing national security concern: the maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea. Some commentators pointed out that the Philippines depended heavily on other countries (particularly the United States), that the government seemed complacent and lax in handling the disputes, that Filipinos could never retrieve the West Philippine Sea, and that the country was lacking external security and losing in its strategy.
by: Louie Dane C. Merced
CIRSS Commentaries, Volume 3, Number 7, May 2016
With the final award of the Arbitral Tribunal on the maritime disputes in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea (SCS/WPS) expected in the coming months, there has been a noticeable increase in activities not only on the ground, but also in the diplomatic circles. These developments provide some clues on how the arbitration case and the SCS/WPS disputes currently stand in the regional and even global discourse.
The Global International Waters Assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2005 identified the South China Sea as a large marine ecosystem with more than 2,500 species of marine fishes and 500 species of reef-building corals. The study also found enormously diverse platform reefs and atolls existing, most notably in the Spratly Islands, which play a key role in the nourishment of regional biodiversity.
by: Carlos D. Sorreta and Mary Fides A. Quintos
CIRSS Commentaries Issue 5, August 2014
Last 16 June, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario publicly raised the idea of a moratorium on destabilizing activities in the South China Sea. In a national cable news interview, the Secretary said:
We ought to maybe consider getting together and saying, ‘Let’s freeze all activities which escalate tension.’ Let’s call for a moratorium in terms of activities that escalate tension. Let’s do that while we work on an expeditious conclusion of the COC (Code of Conduct) and effective and full implementation of the COC . . . I would like to initiate it. It’s a reasonable approach.