For the course in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

The brewing tension now between the Philippines and China caused by their conflicting claims over the disputed West Philippine Sea, popularly known as the South China Sea, is hugging the headlines. The Philippines, on January 22, 2013 has already lodged its complaint for arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, The Netherlands the proceedings of which is currently ongoing (Please see attached file). And just as the PCA on Aprill 22, 2015 came out with its Press Release on the status of the Arbitration; the CNN released also its report on the same matter (as stated hereunder).

Expert: China speeding up reef reclamation due to arbitration caseBy Lara Tan, CNN PhilippinesUpdated 17:09 PM PHT Wed, April 22, 2015

(CNN Philippines) A local maritime expert said on Monday (April 13) that China's most recent activity in the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands is Beijing's response to the arbitration case filed by the Philippines.

"The reclamation was clearly a response to the arbitration. If ever China had real plans to do this before, clearly the arbitration case accelerated those plans," said Dr. Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, during an interview with Amelyn Veloso on CNN Philippines' Headline News.

The Philippines has filed its arbitration case to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with respect to the dispute with China over the maritime jurisdiction of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea last January 2013.

The country likewise submitted last March 15 a 3,000-page supplemental documentation which includes 200 pages of written arguments and a 200-page atlas containing detailed information about 49 islands, reefs, and other features in the West Philippine Sea rebutting Beijings claim that an international body such as the UNCLOS does not have the jurisdiction to decide on Manilas pleading.

The arbitration panel, for its part, gave China three months or until June 15 to respond on Manilas latest pleading. "Although we do not expect it to do so," he said.

Related: Philippines says China's reclamation causing ecological damage

Reclamation on the disputed reef have been going on since last year, with China building at a rate of one island every four months, according to Batongbacal.

China also never clearly justified its reclamation in the West Philippine Sea, other than the reasoning that it was their right to do so, he added.

Batongbacal, however, noted the change in China's reasoning in the last month. He said China tried to justify its activities as being necessary to strengthen some civilian aspects of its activities.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the reclamation and building work in the Spratly Islands of the West Philippine Sea would be used for military defense as well as to provide civilian services that would benefit other countries.

Related: China mounts detailed defense of sea reclamation

Batongbacal said China felt the need to explain itself to the international community as a result of constant questioning and pressure.

Geopolitical implicationsChina claims 90% of the West Philippine Sea is its territory.

Batongbacal said China wants to be at par with the other claimant countries, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines all of which have been able to establish footholds in the West Philippine Sea.

He said that for the longest time, China didn't have the same assets of these countries, so China perceived it as a threat to their dominance in the West Philippine Sea.

"Regardless of the arbitration case, China decided to do what they felt as necessary, which was to establish their own islands," Batongbacal said.

He added that the implication of China's reclamation to the international community is the threat to their freedom of navigation and usage of the West Philippine Sea.

Last week, U.S. called for more transparency insofar as China's intention on its reclamation activities, as U.S. President Barack Obama voiced concern over China's "use of its sheer size and muscle to force countries in the subordinate positions."

Mischief ReefChina is currently working on reclamation activities around the Mischief Reef that is still within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

Mischief Reef is China's most recent reclamation in the West Philippine Sea.

Batongbacal estimated the size of the said reef as being larger than an ordinary barangay with a strategic position vital for fishing and shipping vessels.

The completely submerged and oblong in shape Mischief Reef lies 125 nautical miles away from Palawan.

In a statement issued last week, Malacaan strongly opposed China's reclamation in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea and reiterated the governments commitment of pursuing legal and diplomatic tracks in resolving maritime disputes.