By Robina Asido

Despite the strong support from the international community, retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio admitted that the enforcement of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal victory is still ''partial'' ten years after the ruling was awarded.

In an interview on the sidelines of the National West Philippine Sea Summit - Commemorating the 10th year of the South China Sea Arbitral Award on Wednesday, Carpio said "all the countries of the world are supporting" the Philippine's claims in the West Philippine Sea

"Europe, the entire European nations, you have Canada and US and North America, you have Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India. So I do not know of any country that supports China's claim that China owns the South China Sea," he said.

"Nobody can believe that anymore. So that's a huge improvement and that's why we get more support from other countries. That's the basic fundamental change," he added.

The Philippines went to an international court at The Hague in 2013 in protest of China's illegal presence in Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese ships have not left the area since a standoff in 2012.

Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, reiterated the country demand for China to remove antennas installed within the shoal after a floating platform was withdrawn last month.

Carpio explained that China cannot enforce its international boundary called the 10 dash line in the South China Sea due to the Arbitral ruling which represents a major legal victory for the Philippines against China.

"Well right now, there is only partial enforcement because China is claiming that they own the West Philippine Sea.

But they cannot enforce that because the US and its allies sail in the West Philippine Sea and tell China this is the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines," he said.

"So China said, you can pass here on innocent passage, you cannot conduct naval drills. But the Americans and their allies say no, this is the exclusive economic zone. Per the arbitral award, this is the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines," he added.

Carpio also noted China is blocking the country from drilling oil and natural gas in its own waters in the Reed Bank although the arbitral award ruled that it belongs to the Philippines.

"The arbitral award says that the gas in Reed Bank belongs to the Philippines because that is part of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. But we cannot get the gas because China is preventing us," he said.

"So there is no complete compliance but there is partial enforcement," he added. PHS