The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) shows the light Blue Dotted line as 200 Nautical Mile Economic Zone for the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Blue dotted line includes most part of the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratly) of the Philippines. UNCLOS did not show any China’s territory in the West Philippines Sea. The Philippines recorded already 6 invasion by china to the West Philippine Sea As of June 3, 2011.
Philippine Online Protest against china’s 6 Invasion to the Philippine waters leaded by Young Filipinos is launched today at http://spratly.highkot.com/ It is ahead from the formal protest to the UNCLOS which is on the process by the Philippine Government.
Malacañang Palace Manila said that preparations are underway for the Philippines’ protest before the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Spratlys issue, stressing that it wants to resolve the matter in a diplomatic and peaceful way.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government is preparing what it can present to the UNCLOS.
“We will prepare accordingly and we hope for the best and again, we prepare for the worst,” she said. “We reiterate our commitment to resolve the dispute peacefully.”
Valte said that President Aquino has always pushed for a “diplomatic resolution of any conflict that will arise in connection with the West Philippine Sea.”
“We wish to stress that the way we are approaching these incidents is that we are fully committed to resolving it in a very diplomatic manner and a peaceful manner as well,” she said.
Malacanang has said that the new construction by China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is a “cause for concern”
The DFA had requested clarification from the Chinese Embassy on the recent sightings of a China Marine Surveillance (CMS) vessel and other People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships at the vicinity of Iroquois Reef-Amy Douglas Bank in the West Philippine Sea. These ships reportedly unloaded building materials, erected an undetermined number of posts, and placed a buoy near the breaker of the Amy Douglas Bank.
The Amy Douglas Bank is located southwest of Recto (Reed) Bank and east of Patag (Flat) Island and is well within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). There are currently no structures on the said bank and the latter is unoccupied, according to a DFA statement.
The posts and buoy placed by the Chinese at the vicinity of the Amy Douglas Bank, however, are about 26 nautical mile east of Patag Island and 125 nautical mile from mainland Palawan.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario had said that “any new construction by China in the vicinity of the uninhabited Amy Douglas Bank is a clear violation of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea.”
It will be recalled that during the dialogue between President Aquino and Chinese Defense Minister Liang in May, an agreement was forged between China and the Philippines to continue engaging in dialogue towards an amicable settlement on the disputed Spratly islands.
Both parties also agreed that the best way to solve the issue is to continue to engage into dialogue, not just between China and the Philippines, but also other countries that are claimants to the Spratlys.
