United Nations Sea Tribunal picks new judge for Philippines-China Sea disputes after Sri-Lanka resigned

UN picks new judge for Philippines-China dispute

The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea has named a judge from Ghana to replace the recently resigned Sri Lankan member of a United Nations five-man arbitral tribunal set up to hear the Philippines' complaint over China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, a Philippine official said Tuesday.

Raul Hernandez, spokesman for the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department, said Ghanaian judge Thomas Mensah has been named to replace Sri Lankan Judge Chris Pinto.

Pinto removed himself from the tribunal on May 6 to avoid potential accusations of conflict of interest because he is married to a Filipino woman.

The five members of the tribunal under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea were appointed in April with Pinto serving as president.

Mensah will serve as president of the arbitral tribunal, which will determine whether it can acquire jurisdiction over the Philippine complaint and proceed to look into Manila's case.

The other four judges are Rudiger Wolfrum of Germany, Stanislaw Pawlak of Poland, Jean-Pierre Cot of France and Alfred Soons of the Netherlands.

"The five-member arbitral tribunal will now organize itself and establish its own rules and regulations," Hernandez said.

The Philippines filed its Notification and Statement of Claims against China last Jan. 22 in a bid to resolve the two countries' territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

China has rejected the Philippine move which Beijing sees as a "political provocation under the disguise of legal procedures."

At the ASEAN senior officials meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei earlier this month, a diplomat said China had asked the Philippines to drop the case.

Manila has ignored Beijing's plea, saying compulsory arbitration is imperative to counter China's expansive "9-dash line" claim in the South China Sea.

Manila insisted that arbitration is "a peaceful and durable form of dispute settlement pursuant to international law."

"We have everything to gain in this legal exercise, we have nothing to lose," a Philippine diplomat told Kyodo News, adding the Philippines' filing of the arbitration case is consistent with its rules-based approach to the South China Sea dispute.

"Arbitration is not an unfriendly act but a peaceful way of resolving disputes," the diplomat said.

The islets, reefs, shoals and cays in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea are claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and in part by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Source: Kyodo News / ABS-CBN News

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$1.4 Billion USD (₱60 Billion PHP) LRT 1 Extension Push through in spite of China-Railway linked protest

Ecorail Transport Services Inc. - businessman Reghis Romero II tied up with China Railway Construction Corporation disqualified the bidding for late submission filed a case in the Supreme Court to stop the bidding.

DOTC to proceed with LRT 1 Ext bidding

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to push through with the bidding of the proposed ₱60 billion project extending the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT 1) all the way to Bacoor in Cavite from Baclaran in Pasay City despite a law suit filed by a disqualified bidder.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said in a text message that the agency would pursue the largest infrastructure project under the Aquino administration despite the case filed by Ecorail Transport Services Inc. of businessman Reghis Romero II before the Supreme Court seeking to stop the bidding process.

"The DOTC stands by its decision to bid out the project and believes that there is no legal basis for the suit," Lotilla stressed.

Ecorail, which was disqualified by the DOTC during the pre-qualification process, filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus, with application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction against the DOTC and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) before the High Tribunal to stop the bidding process.

Ecorail specifically named Rene Limcaoco, who is the DOTC undersecretary for planning and vice-chairman of the Special Bids and Awards Committee, as a respondent in the suit.

In a five-page urgent motion for the issuance of a TRO, Ecorail asked the Supreme Court to enjoin the DOTC and LRTA from proceeding with the bidding process of the LRT Line 1 South Extension Project.

Ecorail has tied up with China Railway Construction Corp. in submitting a proposal to the DOTC to undertake the entire ₱60 billion project, including the ₱30 billion acquisition of trains as well as the ₱30 billion civil works, claiming it has enough funds to undertake the entire project.

Under its proposed joint venture, Ecorail said the participation of the government would be to provide the land for the project. In return, the government would get a share in fare revenues.

The company claimed in its petition that the DOTC issued a General Bid Bulletin calling interested parties to submit their bid proposals for the project while negotiations between Ecorail and the DOTC were on-going.

For his part, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya lamented Ecorail's move to file a case before the Supreme Court after failing to prequalify for the project because of late submission.

"It is quite unfortunate that Ecorail had to go up to the Supreme Court. They actually participated in the bid but did not prequalify," Abaya said in a text message.

Last November, the DOTC's special bids and awards committee cleared the participation of the Light Rail Manila Consortium, MTD-Samsung Group, San Miguel Infrastructure Resources Inc., and DMCI Holdings Inc. after beating the Oct. 22 deadline.

The Light Rail Manila consortium is led by First Pacific's Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) with 33 percent, followed by diversified conglomerate Ayala Corp., while the MTD-Samsung group is composed of MTD Capital Bhd. and Samsung C&T Corp.

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., through San Miguel Infra Resources Inc., lead the group composed of GS Engineering and Construction Corp. and POSCO Engineering and Construction Co Ltd, while DMCI has tied up with Marubeni Corp. and Sistema Tranporte Collectivo Metrorey.

Of the total project cost, the government is spending P30 billion for the acquisition of 39 new light rail vehicles (LRVs) for the project through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

With report from philSTAR

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Chinese Ship entered and anchored Cebu Malapascua for more than 1 month undetected by the Philippine Authorities

Chinese cargo ship seized in Cebu

Authorities took custody yesterday of 24 Chinese crewmen after their cargo ship was seized while anchored near a marine sanctuary in Cebu for the past 33 days, allegedly without informing the government of their arrival in the country.

Commodore William Melad, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Central Visayas district commander, said that the 19,998-gross ton M/V Ming Yuan, a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier built in 2007, has been staying in the country since May 19 but failed to notify the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Melad admitted that it took some time before the Chinese crew cooperated with authorities because it did not immediately allow the PCG personnel, accompanied by officers from the BI, BOC and the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), to board their ship yesterday morning.

"They would not allow us to board. Normally, they would lower the accommodation ladder. But we insisted, so finally they allowed us to board the ship. We properly identified ourselves on radio that we are from the Philippine Coast Guard and we have the BOC and BI with us. Maybe there was just a miscommunication at the beginning of the discussion," Melad added.

It took them about two hours to convince the foreigners to allow them to enter the vessel and another two hours of ship inspection before they were told to transfer to another site where they would be better monitored by the PCG.

He explained that the Ming Yuan was a commercial vessel and normally when they enter the country they should have a notice of arrival to the corresponding agencies such as the BOC, BI and the PPA.

The problem is there was no notice of arrival and the ship has been here since May 19, he said.

The Chinese were in the area between Malapascua Island and Carnasa Island.

The ship was anchored in the area, a famous beach area and dive spot located near a marine sanctuary.

Melad admitted that this was the second time that they boarded the ship.

Last week, they entered the ship's premises but it was for port state control purposes where they only checked the seaworthiness of the vessel. The ship passed the inspection.

But at past 4 a.m. yesterday, the officers from the four different government agencies again approached the vessel anchored some 5.3 nautical miles off Malapascua Island.

"So (at 6 a.m.), we found out that they had no notice of arrival so definitely there is a violation here. The Bureau of Immigration confiscated their passports and seaman's book because they did not ask permission to enter (the country)," the PCG official said.

The Chinese nationals are not allowed to leave their ship.

Melad also believed that the ship should not be staying near Malapascua so the PCG escorted them to another anchorage area for foreign vessels specified by the PPA, which is located in the northern part of Cebu where there is a PCG detachment that could guard the Chinese ship.

The PCG also learned that the Chinese ship plans to go to Leyte where the vessel owner was reportedly looking for clients and cargo to transport.

When they checked the ship, it appeared that they had not yet found any client since the cargo hold was empty.

He also wondered why the vessel was anchored in Cebu, which was in Region 7, when their intended client was in Region 8.

The latest seizure of the Chinese ship came at a time when the Philippines and China are embroiled in a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

Last April, 12 Chinese crewmembers were ordered arrested and detained after their vessel ran aground at the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea.

PCG Cebu commander Weniel Azcuna said on the first week of June, local fishermen and officials of Malapascua reported to the PCG the arrival of the foreign cargo vessel.

Azcuna said that the captain of the Ming Yuan informed the PCG that the vessel came from Taipei, Taiwan before the ship stopped in Malapascua en route to Isabel, Leyte.

Azcuna said the ship captain claimed that the Ming Yuan was supposed to pick up cargo in Leyte but since it was not yet ready, the crew chose to temporarily stay in Malapascua.

Azcuna said that the owner of the vessel would have to pay fines to the BI and customs bureau for not notifying the agency of their presence.

He clarified that the PCG deals more with ship safety.

"It's a newly built ship, so when we conducted the inspection, there was no violation detainable to the coast guard," said Azcuna.

The PCG vessel 3502 escorted the Ming Yuan yesterday to the port in Hagnaya, Cebu.

Meanwhile, in a separate inspection by local executives, Logon barangay chairman Rex Novabos, Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) president, said he has sent the Bantay Dagat Team as well as policemen to the area to check on the activities of the Chinese ship.

Novabos said they checked if the ship has a hose used to extract sand after some residents reported that the vessel could be extracting sand from coastal areas.

"This is mostly the activity of most stranded ships in our island, which is to get white sand and transport it to another beach. But due to language barrier, we were not able to talk to the crew," he said.

Novabos said the team reported that there was no hose and they did not find any sand on board while crewmembers were painting the vessel floor. –

With Jaime Laude, Marigold Lebumfacil/Freeman

With report from philSTAR

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