Locsin: Philippines never surrendered ‘single inch of territory’ in West Philippine Sea

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday underscored that the Philippines has not surrendered a single inch of territory in the West Philippine Sea amid tensions in the resource-rich region.

Locsin emphasized this during the budget deliberations at the House committee on appropriations hearing. He added the Philippines' vision of the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability and prosperity.

The DFA is proposing P21.051 billion for its Office of the Secretary and other attached agencies. This is equivalent to 0.42% of the proposed P5.024 trillion budget for fiscal year 2022.

"We have pursued an independent foreign policy for the first time in the history of the Republic, and done well by earning a heightened respect from the community of nations. If we had been a tail, we have now wagging the dog," Locsin said.

"We have not surrendered a single inch of territory. Not by word or deed have we weakened our right to everything in the West Philippine Sea, and without inviting pity by asking, we achieved an international consensus that the right is with us, and might cannot ever take it away," Locsin added.

He said the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) should also be upheld and not be undermined.

Locsin mentioned that the Philippines takes its pride in the gains achieved in the negotiations regarding the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged China’s legal basis for its massive claim before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Philippines won the case in a landmark award in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Beijing’s assertions.

The ruling, however, was never honored by China as it continues its activities in the and its vessels refuse to leave the area.

The Philippine government has lodged diplomatic protests against China over its intrusions in the West Philippine Sea. 

According to Locsin, a total of 158 diplomatic notes have been lodged against China, of which 143 have been issued under his term as DFA chief.

"China has responded (to) the issues raised in 124 of our Philippine diplomatic notes," Locsin said.

"You know why? Because it’s a free world. I protest, they answer. It’s a free world. That’s their prerogative. But, we never yield," he added. — RSJ, GMA News