Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte has said that going to war with China over disputed territories in the South China Sea would be the "most stupid thing" for Manila to do given that Beijing is one of the world's military superpowers.

"We maintain good relations with China. Let us create an environment where we sit down and talk directly. That is the time we would say we proceed from here," Duterte said, referring to the impending Sino-Philippine formal talks on the South China Sea dispute.

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President Duterte made the announcement during a press conference on Sunday in his Davao hometown, reiterating that fighting China is not an option to secure Manila's territorial claims in the international waterway.

Stupid

Duterte said if Beijing refuses to talk with Manila, there is nothing more he can do. Declaring war on China, he said, would be the most "stupid" thing to do

A  Philippine supreme court justice had earlier shared the president's position on the South China Sea issue, rallying Filipinos to follow the Constitution and international law despite China's refusal to accept the July 12 international arbitral court decision favoring the Philippines.

"We do not fight China directly. When we talk of China, its huge naval fleet, its huge air force with its nuclear warheads aimed at us, how do we respond? We cannot start a war we know we will certainly lose. So we will do it through legal and diplomatic means," Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Friday in an interview at a law university in Cebu City.

Philippine Constitution

Carpio, who was part of the Philippines' legal team that arguing its case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, said that although Manila is seeking formal talks with Beijing on the South China Sea dispute, it should not kowtow to the demands of China if they run contrary to the Philippine constitution and the arbitral court ruling.

"We will stick to the ruling of the tribunal and the Constitution. That means, we will not give up the benefit of the ruling. We will follow the Constitution. For me, that's good enough," he said.

Carpio called on Manila's special envoy for the Sino-Philippine talks, Fidel Ramos, and the negotiating parties to uphold the constitution and the arbitral court ruling once formal talks with Beijing begins.

Sino-Philippine talks

While Manila insists on conducting talks with China based on the arbitral court ruling, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing will not accept any actions and future propositions by any nation based on the tribunal ruling.

Carpio said the recent tribunal ruling denying China's massive territorial claims in the South China Sea is an opportunity to unite the Filipinos. He called on the international community to press China to honor the ruling.

Carpio said despite China's rejection of the court's decision, the world continues to support the Philippines' stance on the South China Sea row.

He pointed out that the ruling was not "useless" and that the Philippines will not give up its sovereign rights to the disputed sea.

"We can't give up our sovereign rights and jurisdiction. We've won the battle already. For us to walk away from that and say we don't need that, what would the next generation of Filipinos will say?" he said.

On July 12, an international arbitral court ruled that China territorial claims in the South China Sea have no legal basis.

UNCLOS

The court ruled that China violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Philippines' rights to explore resources in its exclusive economic zone.

China has dismissed the ruling as "illegal" and "null and void" as it refused to abide by the verdict despite calls from the international community for it to do so.

This month, Manila's special envoy for negotiations with China, Fidel Ramos, flew to Hong Kong and conducted "ice-breaker" talks with high-ranking Chinese officials to ease the rising tensions between the two nations.

The two sides have agreed to start laying the groundwork for the start of the formal talks and to pave the way for President Duterte's first state visit to China.

Part of the talks focused on the possible opening of the disputed Scarborough Shoal to fishermen from the two nations. 

TagsPresident Rodrigo Duterte, arbitral court ruling, Sino-Philippine formal talks, Chinese President Xi jinping, china