"Beyond that, I don't know what else we could do," Aquino said. "The focus is to achieve a solution through peaceful means bound by international law."
China has said that the Philippines' filing of the case could damage relations between the two countries and that it would prefer to settle the dispute bilaterally.
Aquino said Chinese actions in the South China Sea were "not in conformity" with the 2002 agreement signed by Beijing and ASEAN calling on all claimants over parts or the whole of the regional waters not to exacerbate their dispute.
"We have issues about the reclamations, about rocks, in so far as rocks being turned into islands," he said, referring to Chinese land reclamations in at least three shoals claimed by both China and the Philippines.
"Is it a game changer? Obviously it's a game changer," he said in response to a question on whether the reclaimed land could be used to install military facilities such as an airstrip, posing a security threat to the Philippines.
China's conflicts with Vietnam and the Philippines have been intensifying over the past two years. The most serious confrontation was in May between Chinese and Vietnamese ships near an oil rig deployed by Beijing in waters claimed by Hanoi.
Aside from China, the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims in the South China Sea.
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