GEOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE AND VARIOUS OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA IS PART OF THE PHILIPPINE TERRITORY, AS ESTABLISHED BY THE 2016 HAGUE RULING
CLAIM: There is no such thing as the West Philippine Sea
RATING: FALSE
In a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 4, partylist representative Rodante Marcoleta claimed that the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is just a made-up idea.
“There is nothing as West Philippine Sea. Wala po ‘yon. That is a creation by us,” said Marcoleta, who represents Sagip party-list group (Social Amelioration and Genuine Intervention on Poverty), during the House tri-committee probe on online disinformation and cybercrimes.
The claim was made when Marcoleta stressed the need to empower the people to “distinguish what is fake and what is true,” citing the West Philippine Sea as an example of a misunderstood issue.
The portion of the South China Sea covered by the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was renamed “West Philippine Sea” in 2012 through Administrative Order 29.
The order, signed by President Benigno Aquino III, defined the West Philippine Sea as covering the “Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.”
The EEZ refers to waters that are up to 200 nautical miles from the country’s baselines, as determined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) in 1982.
The 2016 arbitral ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration contained a glossary of geographic names that listed the West Philippine Sea as the Filipino name of the portion of the South China Sea being claimed by the Philippines.
The ruling also stated that the West Philippine Sea is within the 200-nautical mile radius of the country’s EEZ.
This has become one of the most contentious international disputes, with China’s aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea causing heightened tensions and security concerns.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in a statement last October stood by its decision to call for the recognition of international maritime laws in light of China’s actions against member-states’ patrols.
The West Philippine Sea serves as a counter-narrative to China’s claim as embodied by the “nine-dash line,” which came from a 1947 map.
Two centuries prior, the 1734 Murillo-Velarde Map already indicated the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal as part of the Philippines.
