MANILA - Former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday commended President Rodrigo Duterte for raising Philippines' arbitral win against China before the United Nations General Assembly and hoped the administration would implement the policy.

Duterte, in his first speech before the UN assembly, said the Philippines "firmly rejects" any attempt to undermine the award that invalidated China's sweeping claims over the West Philippine Sea.

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Beijing has continued to ignore the ruling as Duterte sought closer ties with the economic giant for his administration's infrastructure projects.

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The President's statement welcoming the support of other member-states is "heartening," Carpio said.

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"I fervently hope that this is the policy that the Duterte administration will implement across all levels – in the protection of our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippines Sea, in the negotiations for the Code of Conduct, and in gathering the support of the international community for the enforcement of the arbitral award," he said.

Carpio, a long-time advocate of the Philippines' sovereignty in the disputed waters, recently joined former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales in a landmark case seeking to punish Chinese President Xi Jinping over his country's destructive activities in the South China Sea.

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