PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the public that the government will defend the country’s sovereignty, following China’s release of an official map that marks the West Philippine Sea as part of its territory.
“We received the news that now the nine-dash line has been extended to the ten-dash line. We have to respond to all of these and we will,”
Mr. Marcos said, without providing any details.
He said that the administration would closely abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“We have stayed true to rules-based international law especially the UNCLOS and that I think puts us on solid ground in terms of our claims for territorial sovereignty, for maritime territory,” Mr. Marcos said.
The President said that the Philippines has received support from other countries in defending the nation’s territories and sovereignty.
“This has been validated and supported by many, many countries around the world, and we should take strength in that, and I believe that again is a very big help to the Philippines in continuing to defend our maritime borders,” he said.
President Marcos is expected to make a push for a statement on the matter at the upcoming 43rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia next week.
Meanwhile, the director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea said the international community would more readily accept a map issued by the Philippines than China.
“In our case, if we issue a map, it is not going to be only self-serving, but rather it is actually going to be supported by the South China Sea arbitration. It is going to be supported by international law,” the institute’s Jay Batongbacal told ANC’s “Headstart.”
“So in that sense, it will have a much greater credibility and power than this self-serving Chinese map because we would simply be implementing an established judgment by an authoritative international tribunal,” he said.
The Philippines has protested the Chinese map, as have India and Malaysia.
Also on Friday, the chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Sergio Ortiz-Luiz, said there should be an “urgent repairing” of Philippine-China relations.
He cautioned against letting the Ayungin Shoal tensions become “overblown,” because China is the country’s biggest trade partner, a big potential investor, and an important consumer market of 1.4 billion people for Philippine products.
India’s Ambassador Shambhu Kumaran said the controversy over the Chinese map has strengthened his country’s resolve to enhance its defense and maritime security partnership with the Philippines as both countries depend on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
The Indian diplomat hinted that India “should have more ships coming in the future” to the Philippines.
Senator Francis Tolentino said he agreed with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that China’s “wanton disregard” for the country’s claim to the West Philippine Sea should be met with more than just diplomatic protests.
He called for joint patrols of the disputed waterway with the forces of the United States and Australia.
Zubiri vowed to expedite the passage into law of the proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act to quell any attempts by China to expand and include the country’s maritime territories as part of its own.
Zubiri added that he was confident that China’s map would “solidify support” for the arbitral ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that officially invalidated China’s 9-dash line.
He pointed out other countries are also affected by China’s 10-dash line map like India, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
“So, I think it will galvanize support from other countries. More countries will support and stand with the Philippines to condemn and appeal to China not to follow that ridiculous 10-dash line. It violates the sovereignty, not only of the Philippines now, but of several other countries all around Asia,” the Senate leader said.
A congressional leader, meanwhile, said he did not expect any progress on a binding Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, which has been the subject of negotiations for more than 20 years.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said there was a “yawning gap” between Beijing’s words and actions on the Philippines’ undisputed sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) under international laws.
“Don’t hold your breath as I do not see anything effective and substantive… coming out of the just-concluded chapter of the over two-decade discussions on the proposed COC in the SCS,” Villafuerte said.
“I believe the COC negotiations will go nowhere in light of the yawning gap between China’s words and actions, as could be seen from its increasingly hostile actions in recent years,” he said.