Elective officials in particular seem to believe that the people’s mandate is a license to steal, and gives them carte blanche to use public office for personal gain. With the ruling, other claimant states could no longer give up their sovereign rights which have been affirmed by the ruling. In the third phase China will realize that its claim to sovereign rights in the EEZ of other states is a dead end. China cannot eat its claim to sovereign rights in the EEZ of another state. However, China’s state-owned company (CNOOC) can partake of half of the income from the oil and gas as a service contractor of the state that has sovereign rights over the EEZ.

Source: Philippine Star December 18, 2018 16:00 UTC