The Philippines’ greatest strength in asserting its rights in the West Philippine Sea remains the rule of law, National Security Adviser Eduardo Oban Jr. said Thursday as the country marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling.
Speaking at the National West Philippine Sea Summit in Manila, Oban said the arbitral award fundamentally reshaped the Philippines’ legal position in the disputed waters and continues to serve as the country’s strongest foundation in defending its maritime rights.
“The Philippines chose differently. We chose peace through the rule of law, with dignity, partnerships without subservience, and sovereignty without aggression,” Oban said in his keynote address.
He said the July 12, 2016 ruling demonstrated that even smaller states can successfully uphold their rights through international law.
“The Philippines offered the world a different proposition: that right pursued with patience, evidence, and conviction can still prevail,” he said.
Oban stressed, however, that while the arbitral tribunal resolved key legal issues, the broader challenge in the West Philippine Sea continues.
“The award settled important legal questions, but it did not settle the underlying competition,” he said.
He warned that pressure on the Philippines now extends beyond confrontations at sea into the information domain.
“The pressure does not stop at the waterline. It reaches into our information space, where narratives are seeded to confuse us and fracture our unity,” Oban said.
“The waters of legal discourse, once clear, are now deliberately clouded by fake news, coordinated misinformation, and sophisticated foreign information manipulation and interference,” he added.
Calling the campaign a form of “21st-century coercion,” Oban said such efforts are designed to test whether “a nation’s resolve erodes faster than its patience.”
Despite those challenges, he said the Philippines remains committed to pursuing its claims through peaceful and lawful means rather than military force.
“The greatest victories of the coming decade will not be won on battlefields. They will be won in the quiet decisions not to fire the first shot, not to issue the first ultimatum, and not to mistake aggression for strength,” Oban said.
Oban also credited Filipino fisherfolk for their role in the country’s legal victory, saying their experiences in contested waters underscored the significance of the arbitration case.
“Recognize our local fishers whose territory, vessels, and persistent bravery amid disputed waters provided this legal battle with its profound and poignant significance,” he said.
He thanked the Philippines’ allies and partners for supporting a maritime order “where the seas must remain free, open, and governed by law.”
Looking ahead, Oban urged Filipinos to preserve the legacy of the arbitral ruling by continuing to uphold international law and resisting intimidation.
“May they look back on this moment and say that ours was a generation that not only defended what was right but dared to aspire to what was possible,” he said.
“A generation that chose agency over resignation and helped ensure that the oceans that connect humanity remain governed not by the law of power, but by the power of law,” he added.
The summit commemorates the 10th anniversary of the July 12, 2016 ruling by an arbitral tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which invalidated China’s sweeping claims over most of the South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.
