DOJ: Philippines to pursue case vs China over coral damage

MANILA, Philippines — China will be made to answer for the “innumerable and immeasurable” damage it has inflicted on the Philippine environment, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said yesterday as he bared the administration’s decision to proceed with the filing of an environment case against Beijing before an international tribunal.

“We were encouraged to pursue what we think is a good case to pursue on behalf not only of the Filipino people but the rest of humanity. It’s just a matter of organizing the evidence and showing it to the proper tribunal,” Remulla said at a press briefing.

A similar case – labeled as crime against humanity – filed by former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario against Chinese President Xi Jinping was junked by the International Criminal Court in 2019, citing lack of jurisdiction.

The decision to push through with the filing of a case came after Remulla’s meeting with Philippine Coast Guard-West Philippine Sea spokesman Jay Tarriela as well as with legal experts including renowned environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa and former solicitor general Francis Jardeleza, who was part of the legal team that secured a victory for the Philippines in its arbitration case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016.

Remulla said they hope to have the case ready for filing before an international tribunal by the early part of 2024 or by March “at the latest.”

The justice chief said he believes the Philippines has a strong case based on the “ample” evidence at hand and on many more likely to be obtained by scientists and other experts tapped for the undertaking. He said the Department of Justice will coordinate with the PCG in helping scientists and others involved in the case check areas affected and “see for themselves the beauty that we might lose and the rich marine resources that humanity might never see again,” Remulla said in Filipino.

He said the evidence would include satellite imaging, cinematography and location-based photographs “to show the abomination that China is doing to our waters.”

Asked how confident the government is in making China