President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated that the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea dispute lacks teeth and could not be enforced. In another televised briefing Wednesday, May 5, 2021, Duterte said China’s President Xi Jinping had made it clear that “there will be trouble” if the Philippines insists on enforcing the ruling. "Sabi niya, ‘whatever your claim is, 'wag mong gawin ‘yan.' Why? In whispers ha...'Do not do that because there might be trouble’," Duterte said. The ruling, issued in July 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, rejected China’s nine-dash claim over the South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

Peralta-Malonzo, T. A. (2021, May 8). Just paper, Duterte describes arbitral ruling. SunStar Pampanga, p. 5.