Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 11) – Senator Francis Tolentino on Wednesday filed a bill seeking to institutionalize the term West Philippine Sea, in a bid to reinforce the country’s sovereignty in the western side of the archipelago.
“As patriotic citizens, we should assert our sovereign rights over our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and subsoil of our EEZ with the concomitant duty to protect and preserve the marine environment therein,” Tolentino said in the bill’s explanatory note.
Under Senate Bill No. 405, all the maritime area including the air space, seabed, and subsoil located in the west side of the Philippine archipelago will fall under “West Philippine Sea” or “Kanlurang Dagat ng Pilipinas.”
Territories under the West Philippine Sea listed in the bill include the Kalayaan Group of Islands in Palawan and Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal in Zambales–areas where confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels have occurred in the past.
Back in 2012, then-President Noynoy Aquino named the maritime areas on the western side of the country as the West Philippine Sea–months after the Scarborough Shoal standoff between Manila and Beijing.
Tolentino’s bill also cited the historic 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which junked China’s sweeping claims in the disputed waters.
The proposed measure also mandates all departments, subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Philippine government to use West Philippine Sea or Kanlurang Dagat ng Pilipinas in all communications, messages, and public documents.
The same directive applies to private institutions, organizations, and establishments operating within the Philippines or transiting in Philippine territory.
Tolentino’s bill also ordered the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority to publish charts and maps of the Philippines reflecting the name “West Philippine Sea” and “Kanlurang Dagat ng Pilipinas.”
