South China Sea? We refer to it as West Philippine Sea --Marcos

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President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said that Manila calls the disputed waters “West Philippine Sea”, not the South China Sea.

During the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore, Marcos spoke about the country’s ongoing efforts to exert its sovereignty in the disputed waters. He explained the Filipinos’ use of the term ‘West Philippine Sea’ to the business leaders in the audience.

“The challenges that we are facing now in the South China Sea, we refer to it as the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said.

“That’s a good name change,” Forbes Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes said in reply.

“Well, because part of the claim was, look, it’s called China, so South China Seas, it must belong to China. And so we thought, well, you know, it’s been on the… western side of the Philippines, you know, since time immemorial. So we call it the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said.

West Philippine Sea vs. South China Sea

Government agencies began using the term “West Philippine Sea” following Administrative Order No. 29, which was issued by the late president Benigno Aquino III in 2012.

Under the order, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority was ordered to publish maps and charts with the term “West Philippine Sea” for western maritime areas within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

All other government agencies were ordered to adopt the name, with the Department of Foreign Affairs also being instructed to inform the United Nations and other international organizations of the new map.

However, the West Philippine Sea solely refers to the waters within the Philippines’ EEZ. The West Philippine Sea is a part of the larger South China Sea, according to the Naitonal Maritime Council.

Beijing has laid claim to most of the South China Sea, including areas within the Philippine EEZ.

While the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision upheld the Philippines’ EEZ in 2016, China has continuously disregarded this and laid claim to most of the West Philippine Sea. —RF, GMA News