Philippines rejects claims that Batanes belongs to China; says sovereignty not up for debate

The Philippines on Thursday dismissed claims that Batanes belonged to China, saying the consular district of China’s Consulate General in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, includes the northernmost province and group of islands.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs called on the so-called scholars who said Batanes belonged to China by way of Taiwan, which it claims as a province, to instead focus on “good faith studies of the region.”

“Flights of fancy should not be dignified with a response. Nevertheless, the Philippines' sovereignty over Batanes is settled and not up for debate,” the DFA said in a statement.

“The Philippines will not entertain revisionist claims over its territory and calls on so-called scholars to focus their energies on genuine, good-faith studies of the region,” it added.

“The Philippine-approved Consular district of the Chinese Consulate General in Laoag includes the Philippine province of Batanes,” the DFA said.

This comes amid reports that numerous researchers from Chinese universities and institutes declared that Manila’s control over Batanes supposedly lacks historical and legal basis.

The scholars said that Batanes constitutes a geographical extension of Taiwan, with sovereignty belonging to China.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. earlier called claims that Batanes belongs to China, by way of Taiwan, as “baseless and ludicrous,” saying all academics should immediately debunk the theory.

Teodoro said there is a danger that Chinese citizens believe the claims.

“Sa kanilang closed society, sa tao nila, naniniwala ang mga tao nila dito. Brainwashed eh ang mga tao nila. So ito ay concerning kaso ito’y dapat labanan,” he said in an ambush interview.

(In their closed society, their people believe these things. Their citizens have been brainwashed. So this is a concerning situation, and it is something that must be opposed.)

“We should not allow this to go unresponded to. All academics in the world should douse cold water already on this theory. Kalokohan na ‘yan eh,” he added.

(We should not allow this to go unresponded to. All academics in the world should douse cold water on this theory already. That is nonsense.) –NB, GMA News