Marcos urged to file reso to UN asking China to stop aggression in WPS

At least 17 lawmakers on Wednesday called on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to put forward a resolution in the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) calling on China to stop its repeated "hostile acts" against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The 17 lawmakers led by House Deputy Minority Leader and ML party-list Leila de Lima and House Committee on Justice chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas made the call under House Resolution 192, emphasizing the Philippine victory in the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague that said that China's claims in the South China Sea have "no legal basis."

The same decision also ruled that the Ayungin Shoal, the Spratly Islands, Panganiban or Mischief Reef, and Recto or Reed Bank are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and that China cannot prevent Filipinos from catching fish in Scarborough Shoal because it is a common fishing ground.

“Although not legally binding, the UNGA Resolutions carry significant political weight and serve as expressions of the will and consensus of the international community, with the potential to shape international norms, influence national policies, and provide guidance for the work of other UN organs, specialized agencies, and regional organizations,” the Resolution added.

”Although not legally binding, the UNGA Resolutions carry significant political weight and serve as expressions of the will and consensus of the international community, with the potential to shape international norms, influence national policies, and provide guidance for the work of other UN organs, specialized agencies, and regional organizations,” the Resolution added.  

The Resolution cited that China has been engaged in massive and sustained deployment of Chinese maritime militia within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone in the West Philippine Sea and that there were at least seven instances of aggression from the Chinese side from June 2024 to August 2025 alone, with six incidents happening this year.    

“Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Executive Department, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), be urged to introduce a Resolution before the UNGA calling on the People’s Republic of China to respect the 2016 arbitral ruling and to cease its repeated hostile and aggressive acts against the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (WPS),” the Resolution read.

In September 2024, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) already expressed its intent to file a Resolution before the UNGA to address the ongoing and escalating tensions between the two countries, an action also proposed by retired Senior Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio in 2023.  

Carpio was part of the Philippine contingent that defended the Philippines’ claims in the West Philippine Sea when it sued China before the Hague in 2013.

The Palace on Wednesday confirmed that Marcos will participate in the United Nations General Assembly in September. 

ICC

House Deputy Minority Leader Chel Diokno of Akbayan party-list, meanwhile, said that aside from a UN Resolution, the Philippines should also return to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to better combat Chinese aggression.

"We have to show the world that we will take advantage of every legal opportunity to to assert our our rights over the West Philippine Sea. Maganda sigurong dahilan din na bumalik tayo sa International Criminal Court or sa Rome Statute," Diokno said in a statement. 

(It would be good for us to return to ICC and ratify the Rome Statue [which established the ICC])

"'Yung nangyayaring aggression ng People's Republic of China kasi sa ilalim ng ICC, pwede tayong mag-file ng crimes of aggression laban sa ibang bansa as long as we are members of the ICC and the incidents happen in our territory... So, panawagan din sana natin sa ating Executive Department, bumalik na tayo sa ICC," he added.

(So our call to the Executive department is for us to return to ICC. Let us stand up and fight for our territory. We need to do this now and for the future generations.)

Other authors of the House Resolution are Akbayan Partylist Reps. Perci Cendaña, Dadah Ismula, Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Albay 1st District Rep. Krisel Lagman-Luistro, as well as Reps. Loreto Amante of Laguna, Adrian Michael Amatong of Zamboanga del Norte, Edgar Erice of Caloocan City, Jaime Fresnedi of Muntinlupa City, Zambales Rep. Doris Maniquiz, Trabaho party-list Reps. Nathaniel Oducado, Antolin Oreta III of Malabon City, Antonino Roman III of Bataan, Alfonso Umali Jr. of Oriental Mindoro, and Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon of Leyte —VAL, GMA Integrated News