How much Manila spent for favorable ruling?

The controversial ruling of the arbitral tribunal, initiated by the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute case, is in trouble again. And this time, it is not because of China's protest but because Filipinos are questioning why such a huge amount was spent on the arbitration.

According to former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao, just the attorney fee in the case was $30 million. The Philippines' Constitution says it is mandatory to maintain records of government funds and how they are spent. But there is no record of the attorney fee or its source.

A former senator of the Philippines, Francisco Tatad, suspects the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III that initiated the case kept the Philippine people in the dark about the facts of the arbitration. He wonders whether some foreign country funded the arbitration case.