Former Philippine senior government officials have called on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to start talks with China immediately while ignoring the ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague on the South China Sea issue Tuesday.

"The negotiation must start immediately. And the arbitral ruling is both useless and irrelevant," said Butch Valdes, former undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Education.

Valdes questioned the validity of the ruling which claims Taiping Island as a rock despite the fact that the island has an airstrip, a hospital, several buildings and fresh water.