MANILA (Xinhua): The so-called South China Sea arbitration of 2016, initiated unilaterally by the Philippines, has triggered "a myriad of problems" for the country, economically, diplomatically and regionally, one expert has said.
Herman Tiu Laurel, president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, a Manila-based think tank, told Xinhua in a recent interview that Manila spent US$30 million merely to pay off legal fees and expenses of lawyers who prepared the case, a figure criticised by the Philippines' Commission on Audit as "unnecessary and excessive."
