Philippines compelled to act due to China’s aggression in West Philippine Sea, says DND

January 26, 2025 , 09:34 PM

By Rodolfo Dacleson II

(January 26, 2025) – The Department of National Defense (DND) has stressed that the illegal activities of China in the West Philippine Sea have forced the Philippines to defend itself and assert its rights.

DND secretary Gibo Teodoro Jr. said China has denied the Philippines access to the disputed waterway, built illegal structures, and tried to change the narratives to enact its Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, which states that the majority of the South China Sea belongs to the world power.

“What is being done to the Philippines is forcible stealing of its rights, sovereign rights, in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which the Philippines has the sole right to explore, exploit resources in, by China,” said Teodoro on Wednesday, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) does not recognize the Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, which is primarily based on China’s so-called nine-dash line.

The UNCLOS was adopted in 1982 to serve as the legal framework governing activities in the seas and oceans globally. The Philippines and China were among the first countries that signed it.

“What China is doing makes the Philippines, compels the Philippines to defend itself, assert its rights against China,” said Teodoro.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration sided with the Philippines’ sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea, nullifying China’s excessive claims.

But China has simply dismissed the landmark ruling as a “scrap of paper,” echoing the remarks of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“They (China) have themselves to blame. If we are choosing the side of the right, the correct, not the physical right, but the correct side, the correct path, to use their words, take the right path and correct route,” said Teodoro.

Since early January, the Philippine Coast Guard has been monitoring the back-and-forth entries of ships of the China Coast Guard in the country’s EEZ.

Under Pres. Bongbong Marcos Jr., the Philippines has filed nearly 200 diplomatic protests against China.

(PM)

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