The Philippines may file another case before an international court should China detain foreign nationals, particularly Filipinos, for “trespassing” in the South China Sea, several senators said Sunday. Senator Francis Tolentino pointed out that there were existing provisions in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which state that what China planned to do violated international maritime laws.
The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.China, however, refuses to recognize the ruling to this day.Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said that the "Atin Ito" civilian mission clearly hit a nerve with China, prompting it to take a “tyrannical tactic that will only escalate tensions even further” in the West Philippine Sea.