China-Philippines war over South China Sea? Duterte is fear mongering, says Hague tribunal point man Florin Hilbay
- Former solicitor general who led the Philippines to victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration wants a tougher stand by Manila
- Florin ‘Pilo’ Hilbay says claims Beijing would go to war if the Philippines stands up to its ‘bullying’ are ‘fear mongering’ by Rodrigo Duterte
In an interview ahead of next month’s anniversary of the ruling, Florin “Pilo” Hilbay, formerly the Philippines’ solicitor general, urged Manila to take a tougher stance in trying to enforce the decision. He said fears over what China might do to retaliate were overblown, and doubted that even the economy would suffer if tensions heightened. The Philippine economy did just fine when bilateral relations were at rock bottom during the 2010-2016 presidency of Benigno Aquino, Hilbay noted.
He said that a lack of action against Chinese intrusions in the sea had served only to embolden Beijing.
“What China has done is to test the [Philippine] administration’s ability to respond. And then they pushed the envelope forward, and forward. They have asked themselves, is the president going to complain if we do this? Is he going to complain if we are going to do that?” said the former chief counsel of the government.
