History was made two years ago on July 16 when the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines and declared that China has "no historical rights" over what it claims to be within its "nine-dash line" map in South China Sea. The decision marked a pivotal term in the protracted decades-long dispute over the important sea lane that began in 1947 when China attempted to annex some 3.5 million kilometers of sea by drawing an arbitrary perimeter around the important sea lane on a map.

Oxales, O. (2018, July 9). Two years after. Manila Standard, p. A5.