Rappler Talk: Paul Reichler, Philippines’ lawyer vs China

MANILA, Philippines – He’s known as the giant slayer. 

Paul Reichler, an internationally-renowned lawyer based in the United States, was the Philippines’ legal counsel against China in its case over the South China Sea. The Philippines won this case at The Hague on July 12, 2016.

Reichler spoke to Rappler in an exclusive interview about the 3rd anniversary of the Hague ruling this year, against the backdrop of the sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese ship in the West Philippine Sea.

Reichler is known for defending poor countries against richer ones before international courts. In 1986, he won Nicaragua’s landmark case against the United States, where the Latin American country accused the superpower of funding rebels. (READ: PH lawyer vs China: ‘Giant slayer’ who defeated US)

Dubbed as “Mr World Court,” an American publication once called him “the giant slayer of public international law.”

This is Reichler’s first one-on-one interview with a Filipino news outlet on the Hague ruling. 

Watch him on Rappler Talk. – Rappler.com