China has no right to demand the removal of BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) rejected on Tuesday, China's assertion of an alleged promise made by the Philippines to tow the grounded World War II Philippine Navy ship.

In a press briefing after the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience in Pasay City on Wednesday, Teodoro said China has "no reason to make any comment about us".

"They have no right to say that. So it is beyond their jurisdiction and beyond any form of intervention under international law. And they also, probably, shall we say, are also stopped or inhibited or barred from saying that because they did not participate in the arbitration proceedings," he said.

"So now they cannot violate (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) UNCLOS by doing things outside UNCLOS, and disregarding UNCLOS, and by not participating in the arbitration they violated UNCLOS," he added.

Despite China's assertion of an alleged promise made by the Philippines, the DFA insisted that "there is no agreement between the Philippines and China obligating the Philippines to remove the BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned Philippine naval vessel permanently stationed in Ayungin Shoal."

"The Department reaffirms that Ayungin Shoal forms part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as upheld by the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award," it stated.

The ship was beached at the shoal by the Philippines in 1999.

"As a low-tide elevation, Ayungin is not capable of generating maritime entitlements of its own and can neither be the subject of a sovereignty claim nor is it capable of appropriation under international law. Accordingly, China’s exercise of maritime law enforcement powers infringes on Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in Ayungin Shoal and are violations of international law," it added.

The DFA also rejects the Chinese Embassy’s mischaracterization of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act (Republic Act No. 12064), noting that the Act is an exercise of the Philippines’ sovereign prerogative to define and establish its maritime zones consistent with UNCLOS and international law.

"The 2016 Arbitral Award is final and binding on the Philippines and China. It was rendered by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS - to which both the Philippines and China are States Parties. The Philippines calls on China to respect and fulfill its obligations under international law," the Department said.

"The Philippines remains committed to dialogue, diplomacy, and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law. At the same time, it will continue to exercise its rights responsibly and peacefully and to undertake lawful activities to uphold its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction," it added. Robina Asido/PHS