Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada on Sunday, October 29 expressed belief it is best for the government to use the term “West Philippine Sea” when it pursues the filing of environmental crimes against China for the destruction of corals and other crimes in the maritime region.

“The term West Philippine Sea is a geopolitical designation of our government, an alternative name to the parts of the South China Sea that are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in which we have territorial and maritime claims in that region,” Estrada said in a statement.

“Ang katagang ito ay sumasalamin sa legal na pag-angkin natin sa teritoryong ito (This term reflects our legal claim to this territory),” the senator said.

“The Hague-based UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled overwhelmingly in our favor in determining China’s claims as unlawful,” he further stressed.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) had said it plans to use the term “Sea of Asia” in the environmental complaint that they are planning to pursue against China in 2024 as part of a strategy.

In using the term “Sea of Asia,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla assured that this would not downplay the Philippines’ various concerns against China but merely impute that the body of water is a shared resource for the whole world.

Remulla also expressed hope that with the environmental case, China would be forced to respect international maritime laws, as “world opinion is very important.”

But for his part, Estrada said he is confident the DOJ and other government agencies concerned will carefully study the environmental case they plan to file before the Hague pertaining to the destruction of the country’s reef ecosystems in Panatag Shoal and Spratly Islands due to China’s reclamation activities.

“Malaki ang tiwala ko na masusing pinag-aralan ang kasong planong isampa laban sa China sa pagsira ng corals at iba pang diumano’y environmental crimes sa West Philippine Sea at kasama na dito ang kaso na naipanalo na natin noong 2016 (I have a lot of confidence that the case they plan to file against China for destroying corals and other alleged environmental crimes in the West Philippine Sea will be thoroughly studied and this includes the case that we won in 2016),” the lawmaker said.

“Nothing prevents us from filing a legal case, especially based on established international laws and agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” he stressed.

“What is at stake here transcends territorial claims and disputes, it’s the environmental degradation and destruction by China, a violation of an obligation under the UNCLOS to protect and preserve the marine environment,” added the senator.

The West Philippine Sea was a title created by the Philippine government during the term of former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III in 2011. The Aquino administration started calling the South China Sea, West Philippine Sea in March 2011 after Chinese patrol ships harassed a Philippine scientific vessel and several local fishing boats situated in the Spratly chain.

Then President Aquino made it an official term by virtue of Administrative Order No. 29 which he signed on Sept. 5, 2012.

Aquino, in signing AO 29, included the “Luzon areas, as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal” as part of the WPS.