Why should the Philippines insist on her claim over the West Philippine Sea?
Identified as one of the priority seascapes, the West Philippine Sea accounts for roughly one third of the country’s waters, which hosts a wealth of our coastal and marine resources: from coral reefs, to fisheries resources, to energy and mineral resources, among others.
Plans by a Philippine firm to drill for oil and natural gas on the Reed Bank in the South China Sea have been hampered for years by the territorial dispute.
The West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea are all over the headlines again following China’s increasing activities in the waters.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea puts in better position the Philippine claim over the West Philippine Sea.
Under the treaty, a country’s exclusive economic zone generally extends to 200 nautical miles from its shore, within which the coastal state has the right to explore and exploit, and the responsibility to conserve and manage, both living and non-living resources.
The treaty was ratified by 168 state parties, including China and the Philippines.
Beijing, however, has rejected the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that China’s claims had no legal basis.
Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea disputed by China (which claims almost all of the sea), which is a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
The Philippine Sea has a marine territorial scope of over 679,800 square kilometers, with an EEZ of 2.2 million kms. that contain the highest number of marine species per unit area, and which has been identified as the “epicenter of marine biodiversity”. It encompasses over 3,212 fish species, 486 coral species, 800 seaweed species, and 820 benthic algae species within the country’s EEZ — areas not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.
The pro-environmental group Tanggol Kalikasan had earlier underscored the West Philippine Sea’s potential as a vital source for the country’s food security. “The West Philippine Sea is very important for food security as about 70 to 80 percent of the galunggong [mackerel/round scad] supplied to Metro Manila comes from that area.”
Analysts say the territorial dispute in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines may cause some anxiety in Southeast Asia, since Chinese Coast Guard ships are already blocking/interfering with its supply vessels, and spraying Philippine ships with water cannon, preventing/harassing Filipino fishers, and engaging in other aggressive tactics.
The Philippines is safeguarding her territorial claim in the disputed reef within our own EEZ with an intentionally- grounded fast- deteriorating World War II-era warship, the Sierra Madre, as a military outpost. Manila regularly rotates troops through the post.
But China has adopted a strategy of blockade to control the materials and ships that reach the disputed reef, increasing the likelihood that China might most easily outsmart the Philippines in the contest for control over the disputed reef.
Will the Philippines be able to safeguard its sovereignty and maritime interests, and push back against China’s pressure campaign?
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