Officials of the Philippine in Singapore led by Minister and Consul General Victorio Mario M. Dimagiba Jr., acting in his capacity as Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., joined Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Antonio Carpio and other Philippine officials to participate in the international conference on “The South China Sea Award: The Legal Dimension” at the invitation of the National University of Singapore Centre for International Law (NUS-CIL), which organized the event on 5-6 January 2017 at the Regent Hotel, Singapore.
The Honourable Senator and the Senior Associate Justice were also joined by Acting Assistant Secretary Atty. Leo Tito Ausan Jr., DFA Office of Legal Affairs; Executive Director Evangeline Ong-Jimenez Ducrocq, DFA Office of Asia-Pacific Affairs; Special Assistant Ma. Antonina M. Mendoza-Oblena, DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Policy; Principal Assistant Anwar M. Ito, DFA Office of ASEAN Affairs; Assistant Solicitor General Atty. Hermes L. Ocampo and Assistant Solicitor General Atty. Raymund I. Rigodon.
The conference gathered legal academics and experts to examine and exchange views on the legal elements of the Award in terms of jurisdiction, historic rights, the status and entitlements of features in the South China Sea, and the protection of the marine environment. The participants also discussed the possible implications of the Award to jurisprudence on the law of the sea.
Prof. S Jayakumar, Prof. Tommy Koh, Prof. Lucy Reed and Asst. Prof. Robert Beckman of NUS-CIL chaired the various sessions that featured a list of distinguished panelists.
Upon his arrival in Singapore, Senator Cayetano met with Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where they had an excellent discussion on possible future collaborations as well as on developments in the Philippines and the region.
Clockwise from top left: Group photo of Philippine participants with Prof. S. Jayakumar and Prof. Tommy Koh (5th and 6th from left); Senator Cayetano with Prof. Kishore Mahbubani; Group photo of Philippine participants with Senator Cayetano; and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano with Prof. Jayakumar and Prof. Koh.