Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
WE are told that "gentlemen" sat down amicably and arrived at an "agreement" that the "status quo" in the South China Sea — the West Philippine Sea — would be maintained, and we are also told that our current posture of asserting our rights violates the amicable settlement entered into by the "gentlemen."
It is an elementary principle of law that any agreement that trumps the law and that violates it cannot be binding. It also puts into question whether the parties to such a law-breaking agreement were "gentlemen" because even ruffians enter into such agreements! And if the status quo is contrary to the law, then agreeing to maintain the status quo is acquiescing to a situation that is outlawed.
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