South China Sea: Philippines advised to stake claim on disputed shoal with civilian site

The proposal is among several suggestions by Antonio Carpio, a former Supreme Court judge, following one of the most controversial clashes between Manila and Beijing in the Second Thomas Shoal, where Philippine troops are stationed on a grounded vessel in the disputed waters.

Observers say Carpio’s suggestion carried weight but Manila still has to brace for a worst-case scenario in which the Chinese forcibly take over the Philippines’ military outpost. The military-to-civilian switch could also be seen as a “retreat”, one analyst warns.

Manila and Beijing have been locked in a months-long territorial row in the South China Sea, with the latest skirmish on Monday between the Philippine navy and the Chinese coastguard causing injuries to several Filipinos, including a sailor who lost a finger.

Philippine forces were on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded World War II vessel in the Second Thomas Shoal occupied by their fellow troops. The flashpoint is known to Manila as the Ayungin Shoal, while Beijing calls it Renai Jiao. Both sides claim it is a part of their maritime territory.

Carpio, who played a significant role in the Philippines’ case against China in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that was concluded in Manila’s favour in 2016, said the tribunal had no jurisdiction over military activities in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for part of the disputed South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone. The Hague ruling said that Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, as indicated by its so-called nine-dash line, were unlawful.

“My recommendation is that we could change our presence there from military to civilian. We will build a lighthouse operated by the coastguard. The