MANILA – Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison on Friday said the Philippine government is right in filing a case against China before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), said in a statement that it is better for Manila to make a well-grounded case before the ITLOS, especially for the long-term, than do nothing at all.

“In the first place, filing the case before ITLOS and the Arbitral Tribunal is not a violent act at all, no matter how China presents it as a hostile act. Had the Philippines desisted from filing the case, China would have certainly used the desistance as proof of a lack of conviction and interest in the case,” Sison said.

He said the Philippines made the right decision in filing its case before ITLOS, and in particular the Arbitral Tribunal, as the chosen mechanism for arbitration regarding the islands or islets west of the Philippines.

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