PCG: How can world back West PH Sea term if we undermine it?

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard's (PCG) spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) blasted Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta anew for “undermining” the term referring to the western section of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“How will the world support our use of the term [West Philippine Sea] if we ourselves undermine it? Fortunately, the majority of Filipinos recognize and use the term,” Commodore Jay Tarriela's post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night reads.

“There’s no issue with it, except for those who seem to create problems with it, like senatorial candidate Marcoleta,” he added.

This was Tarriela's response to Marcoleta, who, in a One News interview on Monday, called him “ignorant” on the status of the WPS when it comes to the world stage.

"Even if we name our exclusive economic zone or not, let's fight for it until the last drop of our blood. That's ours. But we should not be dumb and ignorant like that commodore. He did not understand that it (WPS) has not yet been written on the map of the world and its oceans. He should look for it there and once he finds it — let him find it then we can talk," Marcoleta said in Filipino.

He also dared Tarriela to resign once proven wrong.

"If he can see it, he should show it to my face. If he could not see it in the oceans of the world map, he should resign as commodore because he doesn’t understand anything," the lawmaker said in Filipino.

Tarriela also called Marcoleta’s remarks “disheartening.”

“It's disheartening to hear a congressman from the 19th Congress, who passed Republic Act 12064, or the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, claim that the legal institutionalization of the term ‘West Philippine Sea’ is rooted in ignorance,” Tarriela's X post reads.

In 2012, then-President Benigno Aquino III signed an administrative order renaming South China Sea waters within the western section of the country’s EEZ as the WPS.

READ: It’s official: Aquino signs order on West Philippine Sea


Aquino also directed the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority to produce and publish charts and maps of the Philippines showing the WPS.

It was also during Aquino’s term when Manila brought Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands to contest the latter’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

In July 2016, an international tribunal ruled heavily in favor of Manila, effectively invalidating Beijing’s then-nine-dash line claim, which China now calls “ten-dash line."

Since then, Tarriela said, the WPS term "is widely embraced by our countrymen and symbolizes their rights and aspirations concerning the marine resources within our own Exclusive Economic Zone.”

“It is also utilized by our military and coast guard personnel as they fulfill their patriotic duty, often at the risk of their own safety and convenience,” he added. “There is nothing illegal about enshrining the term in our laws. One should never dismiss a term that strengthens the country’s connection to its own EEZ.”

The verbal tussle between Tarriela and Marcoleta began on Feb. 4 when the lawmaker said that there is no such thing as the WPS.

READ: Tarriela slams Marcoleta over West Philippine Sea remarks

In response, Tarriela then said that Marcoleta’s remark was a "disservice and an embarrassment to their entire party, the organization they belong to, and even their own family.”

(2025/02/11-17:39)