Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the 2016 The Hague ruling favoring Philippines over China in its claim in the West Philippine Sea is not meaningless, but the United Nations (UN) has no police power to enforce it. Enrile’s statement was contrary to President Rodrigo Duterte’s belief that the arbitral ruling is “meaningless” as it will just be rejected by China. “This is really the dilemma of the nation. For me, Sir, the beginning of this problem was when we retreated,” Duterte said in his public address aired Monday, May 17, referring to the standoff between the Philippines and China in the Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

Enrile: Ruling on West Philippine Sea not meaningless. (2021, May 19). SunStar Cebu, p. 5.