The West Philippine Sea (WPS) is real, not a mere figment of imagination.
Commo. Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for WPS, had this to say to SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday, Feb. 4, after the latter claimed that the water which forms part of the broader South China Sea (SCS) and is included in the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is not real.
“Hearing someone claim that the ‘West Philippine Sea’ is merely a fabrication of the Philippine government is a disservice and an embarrassment to their entire party, the organization they belong to, and even their own family,” Tarriela said in response to Marcoleta's controversial statements.
Tarriela echoed President Marcos Jr.’s remarks during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2024 that the WPS “is not merely a figment of our imagination.”
“I stand by the statement of President [Marcos] when he said, ‘Ang West Philippine Sea ay hindi kathang isip natin lamang. Ito ay atin. Ito ay mananatiling atin hangga’t nag-aalab ang diwa ng ating minamahal na bansang Pilipinas (The West Philippine Sea is not merely a figment of our imagination. It is ours. It will remain ours, as long as the spirit of our beloved country, the Philippines, continues to burn.)
The outspoken Coast Guard official then asked how an individual like Marcoleta could face the younger generations today and tell them that the country’s EEZ to the west of the Philippine archipelago "is non-existent."
He said this is tantamount to “effectively giving up the fight to assert their rights as Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea”.
During a House tri-committee hearing which tackled the prevalence of fake news and deepfakes online, Marcoleta stated that there was a need to educate Filipinos on the complex issues surrounding the South China Sea (SCS).
“There is no such thing as [West Philippine Sea]. That’s nothing, that is a creation by us,” Marcoleta said. “Just to be real, even if you read our map or what, there is no [West Philippine Sea].”
The term “West Philippine Sea” was first used by the Philippine government in 2011 during the administration of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III when referring to the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago that are within its EEZ.
In 2012, Aquino issued Administrative Order No. 29 where the government formally adopted the term West Philippine Sea. In the same year, the Aquino administration initiated an arbitration process to protest China’s claims in the SCS, including parts of the WPS which, experts believe, are rich in maritime resources and gas.
Four years later, in 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) invalidated China’s dash-line claims, but Beijing ignored the decision and continued to stake its claims in the SCS.