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Honolulu International Forum – Ten Years After the South China Sea Arbitral Award – Strengthening Peaceful Dispute Settlement and the Rules-Based Maritime Order

08/17/2026

08/17/2026

Honolulu

MEDIA QUERIES

Ten Years After the South China Sea Arbitral Award – Strengthening Peaceful Dispute Settlement and the Rules-Based Maritime Order

As July 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, this Honolulu International Forum will examine the Award’s enduring significance for international law, maritime governance, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

The Award remains a landmark in the interpretation and application of key provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It has helped clarify maritime entitlements, define the limits of historic rights, and reinforce the role of international law in addressing complex maritime disputes.

A decade later, the Award continues to inform regional and global discussions on maritime law, the rules-based international order, and efforts to promote lawful, peaceful approaches to maritime security challenges. It remains an important reference point for legal practitioners, policymakers, academics, and security experts engaged in Indo-Pacific affairs.

To commemorate this milestone, the Forum will feature Atty. Fretti Ganchoon, Senior State Counsel at the Philippines’ Department of Justice and head of the DOJ’s Maritime Group. She will discuss the legal foundations of the Arbitral Award and its continued relevance for regional stability, maritime security, and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

About the Speaker

Atty. Fretti Ganchoon is a Senior State Counsel at the Philippines’ Department of Justice (DOJ) and the head of the Department’s Maritime Group. She is also DOJ’s alternate permanent representative to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) and the National Maritime Council (NMC), and the Secretariat head of the Legal Action Working Group (LAWG) of the NTF-WPS.

These key maritime positions enable Atty. Ganchoon to significantly contribute in the crafting of the country’s maritime policies and projects, particularly in the operationalization of maritime laws and international maritime conventions and rulings, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award. Her maritime expertise is anchored on almost two decades of experience in dealing with maritime issues. Notably, she was a member of the Philippine Legal Team that studied the initiation of the South China Sea Arbitration and she served as a vital resource person for the enactment of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act (PMZA) and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act (PASLA).

Before being appointed as a State Counsel, Atty. Ganchoon was a Senior Court Attorney at the Office of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Throughout her legal career, Atty. Ganchoon also makes sure that she meaningfully contributes to the strengthening of the country’s legal education. Hence, she teaches international law in several universities in Manila, including the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), the Far Eastern University (FEU), and the University of the East (UE).

Atty. Ganchoon is a graduate of the Ateneo School of Law and holds a Master of Laws degree (LLM), with Distinction, from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta. She is also a distinguished Maritime Security alumna of the University of Wollongong Australia and the Daniel K. Inouye (DKI) Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS). In 2025, she was awarded the Australian Ambassador’s Award for Maritime Excellence.

 

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