Celebrating BRP Jose Rizal’s arrival in PH waters
Last Saturday marked the arrival of the Philippine Navy’s first-ever brand-new frigate. Appropriately named after the country’s national hero, BRP Jose Rizal departed the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard last Monday, May 19, and arrived in Subic, Zambales, on May 23 (“Watch: PH Navy’s 1st brand new frigate on its way home from Korea,” Inquirer.net, 5/19/20).
BRP Jose Rizal will be vital in protecting Philippine sovereignty and conducting future navy patrols around the whole West Philippine Sea including Scarborough Shoal, located within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
At the moment, Chinese vessels largely dominate the region and unlawfully intimidate, harass, and bully Filipino fishermen from exercising historic fishing rights in the shoal. Subic Bay is approximately 120 nautical miles from Scarborough Shoal. With a declared average speed of 25 nautical miles, BRP Jose Rizal can easily reach Scarborough Shoal in less than five hours.
As can be gleaned from reading former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio T. Carpio’s ebook titled “The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea” (downloadable for free from www.imoa.ph), any armed attack on a Philippine public vessel as part of either the Philippine Navy or Coast Guard in the Pacific area, which includes the South China Sea, is a ground to invoke the 1952 Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States.
According to Justice Carpio, the MDT covers Philippine Navy ships and Coast Guard vessels patrolling the Philippine EEZ in the West Philippine Sea. The United States has unequivocally declared that China must comply with international law and the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s Award dated July 12, 2016, in favor of the Philippines.
Accordingly, moving forward, the arrival of BRP Jose Rizal in the Philippines is certainly a desirable development and a notable victory in the enforcement of Philippine maritime claims in the West Philippine Sea.
Marlon Iñigo T. Tronqued
Court AttorneY
Supreme Court
