Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won Its Maritime Case against China

by Marites Dañguilan Vitug

Rock Solid is a landmark book detailing the Philippines' historic legal victory against China over the South China Sea.

Seasoned Filipino journalist Marites Vitug pored over transcripts and documents from arbitral hearings at The Hague, and interviewed key personalities involved in the maritime case.

Genres: Politics, Law

315 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Marites Dañguilan Vitug is a highly respected Filipino investigative journalist, author, and the editor-at-large for the news organization Rappler. Her work focuses on Philippine justice, security, and political affairs, particularly issues involving China and the South China Sea.

Reviews

[Jodesz Gavilan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Duterte government took a defeatist, self-flagellating stance despite the immensity of what the Philippines had gained from the ruling: a maritime area larger than the total land area of the Philippines, rich in resources. President Duterte once said the Philippines was ‘helpless’ in the face of China’s might. For him, the choices in dealing with China were extreme, either to talk or to go to war. He had framed foreign policy in a false dichotomy.”
—
In ROCK SOLID: HOW THE PHILIPPINES WON ITS MARITIME CASE AGAINST CHINA, award-winning journalist Marites Danguilan Vitug successfully unpacks the complicated territorial dispute between the two countries by providing previously unreported details on the developments before and after the July 2016 decision.

Anyone attempting to understand the historic ruling and how it tapped international law should read this book. Vitug accurately weaved the storyline from various interviews with important actors, thousand pages of legal documents, and important background details. Not stopping at only presenting these, she also contextualized each fact and highlighted its role in the grand scheme of things that was the case.

As someone whose understanding of the dispute starts and ends with the ruling, it was interesting for me to discover that China’s aggression and efforts to counter them go way back. And it makes me so angry that the present administration seems to squander not just the efforts of people that came before them but most especially the hopes of Filipino fisherfolks.

Also: The chapters about Itu Aba are veeeery juicy... ;)

[Mon Garilao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vitug's Rock Solid is an essential book that provides an in-depth analysis and narrative of what transpired during the height of the South China Sea dispute between the Republic of the Philippines and the People's Republic of China. It focuses on the complex interrelationship of geopolitics, diplomacy, and international law and justice. I really enjoyed the book since I am more of a non-fiction reader, and because of my interest in the issues concerning the West Philippine Sea.

I just want to extend my utmost respect to the author for painstakingly crafting a book that is easy to read and understand. International law and diplomacy include complex terminologies but the author did an outstanding job explaining the issues at hand in the easiest and best way possible.

The Philippines, the pearl of the orient seas, will shine even more - and it is incumbent upon us, the future generations of this country to make it happen. The West Philippine Sea is ours, it is the Filipino's.

[Miguel Imperial · Rating 4 out of 5]

+ I expected to read something more "academic" but the book is written like a thriller (after the first few chapters). This is an important book that is actually not hard to read despite its subject. There are parts that are dense in information but is ended with a summary.
+ With how the arbitration went, it makes yourealize how important (or harmful in China's case) writing explicitly, libraries, archives, maps, etc. are.
+ When the ruling came out, I didn't know back then how important it was and will be. If you like inside information about Filipino officials involved in the arbitration, this book has a lot of it.

- For a book that talks about boundaries and territories, it lacks maps.
- The last paragraph can be written in any material that dealt with the same themes and subject. I expected a stronger ending, something more Philippines-that-time-and-onwards-specific.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a Filipino and this doesn't infuriate you, I don't know what will.

[Amor Fati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book brought out a rollercoaster of emotions: outrage at China’s high-handed, bully tactics despite lack of any legally defensible claim and the catastrophic consequences of such actions to the livelihood of our fishermen and the maritime environment, deep sense of pride in some of our countrymen’s courage in confronting the giant bully head on despite limited capabilities, elation at our overwhelming victory at the Hague, and utter disappointment, shame and anger at the Chinese puppets in the Philippine government who continue to this day to shamelessly downplay and ignore our hard-won victory in exchange for Chinese carrots and crumbs. This book is a detailed and important piece of work on the maritime dispute between China and the Philippines that every person who deeply loves his country needs to read. It will awaken one’s sense of patriotism and nationalism.