Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has contradicted the claim of Chinese Consul General Zhang Zhen that the 2016 arbitral ruling favoring the Philippines was “illegal, null and void.”
“I do not at all agree to her statement,” he said, stressing that the ruling over the West Philippine Sea (WPS ) “is supported by evidence while that of China is mere imagination.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also slammed Zhen for allegedly “misrepresenting facts” in the ruling of the arbitral tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash line.
“We take serious exception to China’s continued misrepresentation of the law and the facts. The Philippines and China are both parties to UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea),” DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said in a statement.
“We have and will consistently call on China to act responsibly and abide by its obligations under UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea,” she added.
In a press conference in Iloilo City last week, Zhen said: “China has and will never uphold to it (arbitral award).”
“China will always uphold the policy to settle disputes through peaceful consultation and that is very important, she added.IMT
