Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)

The more buoys, the better.

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged on Monday, May 15 the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to place additional navigational buoys in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) until it is completely marked by them.

This, as the veteran congressman commended the PCG for installing five such buoys to assert the country’s sovereignty over disputed islets, reefs, and shoals in the body of water.

“The coast guard should install more buoys in the entire breadth of the WPS, from the northern part of the country in the Ilocos region to the south in the Palawan area, because that is the extent of Philippine territorial waters China is claiming,” he said.

He said the markers “should serve as a warning to the Chinese and other foreign powers that those are a demarcation of our 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under international law".

“China should leave that area. They have no business occupying certain islets and sea features there,” he said.

The chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments said the PCG ought tp procure more buoys and to include funding for those markers in its budget proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Congress.

Incidentally, the House of Representatives, which possess the power of the purse, will begin discussions on the 2024 national budget in a few months time.

Rodriguez said the PCG could also seek the help of the Philippine Navy in placing the buoys.

According to reports, the PCG installed markers carrying the national flag in five areas near the Spratly Islands group off Palawan, including Juan Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, last month.