On 29 October 2011, Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio delivered a landmark speech at Ateneo de Davao University College of Law during its 50th Founding Anniversary. Entitled The Rule of Law as the Great Equalizer, this address marked the beginning of Justice Carpio’s public advocacy to protect the maritime entitlements of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, as guaranteed under international law.
In that speech, Justice Carpio declared:
“This battle to defend our EEZ from China, the superpower in our region, is the 21st century equivalent of the battles that our forebears waged against Western and Eastern colonizers from the 16th to the 20th century. The best and the brightest of our forebears fought the Western and Eastern colonizers, and even sacrificed their lives, to make the Philippines free. In this modern-day battle, the best and the brightest legal warriors in our country today must stand up and fight to free the EEZ of the Philippines from foreign encroachment. In this historic battle to secure our EEZ, we must rely on the most powerful weapon invented by man in the settlement of disputes among states – a weapon that can immobilize armies, neutralize aircraft carriers, render irrelevant nuclear bombs, and level the battlefield between small nations and superpowers. That weapon – the great equalizer – is the Rule of Law. Under the Rule of Law, right prevails over might.”
This eBook is a comprehensive collation of Justice Carpio’s lectures and speeches on the South China Sea dispute and the landmark 2016 arbitral award rendered in favor of the Philippines. Spanning more than 140 lectures and speeches from October 2011 to March 2017, these presentations were delivered in a variety of forums both within the Philippines and abroad.
An earlier collation of his lectures and speeches appeared in:
Antonio T. Carpio, Historical Facts, Historical Lies, and Historical Rights in the West Philippine Sea, 88 Phil. L.J. 389 (2014).
This eBook is interactive: clicking on maps, photos, or underlined sources will take you directly to the corresponding online resources, allowing readers to explore the evidence and historical documents that support the Philippines’ maritime claims.
Presented on the following dates and venues:
- 24 September 2017 — Financial Executives of the Philippines
- 24 September 2017 — Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Makati
- 07 September 2017 — Filipino Shipowners Association
- 05 September 2017 — St. Theresa’s College
- 24 August 2017 — Adamson University
- 17 August 2017 — UP Alumni Association
- 27 July 2017 — Consular Corps of the Philippines