Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. (Screenshot from YouTube live)

China's issuance of a map detailing its new 10-dash line claim late last month proves its "expansionist agenda". 

Thus, said Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. Thursday afternoon, Sept. 7 during the agency's 2024 budget deliberation before the House Committee on Appropriations. 

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a consistent critic of China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), asked Teodoro during the hearing about the department's specific plans against these aggressive acts. 

"The principles that we'll put is that we will not back down, we'll continue to be doing what we are doing, and we will continue to build up alliances with like-minded nations in order to enforce international law," Teodoro said. 

"The narrative always spun is that these alliances are being done to contain China. It is being done to enforce international law because what contains countries from expansion in  international law and not any other force," he clarified. 

The Cabinet official continued, "When China states that we are puppets of the United States (US) or other hegemons in order to contain them, they implicitly admit by using the word 'contain' that they have an expansionist agenda." 

"And that is proven by the new administrative map where they added another dash line. So that is the best evidence of their expansionist agenda; to dominate the whole South China Sea and perhaps beyond," Teodoro said. 

Rodriguez accepted the DND chief's response. 

Teodoro earlier said in the hearing that the "international law" he was referring to was the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS. 

"So we should stand our ground and at the same time try as much to leverage our alliances... and try as much as possible to have a wise capability upgrade to have a credible deterrent posture to include the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ)," he said. 

China's Ministry of Natural Resources issued last Aug. 28 its new administrative map that showed its new, more expansive 10-dash line claim. This superseded the old nine-dash line claim. 

In July 2016, the Philippine Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands ruled in favor of the Philippines in its case against China's expansive maritime claims. The PCA ruling invalidated China's previous nine-dash line claim. 

"Ayoko pong magka-giyera (I don't want war)," Teodoro underscored in front of the solons. 

"Ngunit ang diplomasya pag hindi natin tinindigan ng katatagan sa paraan ng pagkakaroon ng matibay na kapabilidad na tayuan ang iyong sarili, balewala po ang democracy lalo na sa determinadong malaking bansa na may hangarin na kupkupin ang buong South China Sea," he said. 

(But diplomacy that is not fortified by the presence of robust capability to stand on one's own feet will have no bearing to a large country that's determined in its goal to claim the whole South China Sea.)