Issues and Concern on the

West Philippines Sea

Presented by:
Jessie Q. Jurial Jr.
 What is the dispute in the West
Philippine Sea?

The dispute in the West Philippine Sea is

rooted in conflicting territorial claims over
islands, rocks, and reefs above water at high
tide, as well as conflicting maritime claims over
maritime zones.
The dispute involves six countries bordering
the South China Sea.
What is at stake for the Philippines?
80% of the Philippines ‘ Exclusive economic zone (EEZ),
comprising 381,000 square kilometer of maritime space.

100% of the Philippines’ extended continental shelf

(ECS), estimated at over 150,000 square kilometers of
maritime space.

Aggregating a huge maritime area of over 531,000 square

kilometers larger than total land area of the Philippines
of 300,000 square kilometers.
Root cause of West Philippine Sea
dispute
The root cause of the West Philippine Sea dispute is
China’s 9-dashed lines claim, which gobbles up large
areas of the EEZs and ECS of the Philippines, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
Nine-dashed lines Map submitted by
China to United Nations on 7May 2009
China did not explain the
legal basis for the dashes.
The dashes had no fixed
coordinates.

The Philippines, Vietnam,

Malaysia and Indonesia
protested China’s claim
under this 9-dashed lines
map.
China seized Subi Reef in 1988
In 1988, China seized Subi Reef from the Philippines by
erecting a radar structure and military facilities on the
reef. Subi Reef is a Low-Tide Elevation (LTE) outside of
the Philippines’ EEZ but within its extended continental
shelf (ECS).

Subi Reef is just outside the 12NM territorial sea of the

Philippine-occupied Pagasa Island.

Under UNCLOS, only the Philippines can erect

structures or create an artificial island on Subi Reef.
China seized Mischief (Panganiban)
Reef in 1995
In 1995, China seized Mischief Reef from the
Philippines. Mischief Reef, located 125 NM from
Palawan, is a Low-Tide (LTE) within the Philippines’
EEZ. As an LTE beyond the territorial sea of any state,
it is part of the submerged continental shelf of the
adjacent coastal state, which is the Philippines.

Under UNCLOS, only the Philippines can exploits its

natural resources or erect structures on it.
China claimed Reed Bank in 2010
In February 2010, the Philippines awarded a Service
Contact to Sterling Energy (predecessor of Forum
Energy) for Block SC 72 in the Reed Bank.

Chine protested, sending a Note Verbale to the

Philippines on February 22, 2010 expressing its strong
objection.

China demanded Philippines to withdraw the Service

Contract immediately.
China reiterated its claim to Reed
Bank in 2011
In 2011, the invited bids for the exploration of Area 3
and Area 4 in the Reed Bank, well within the
Philippines’ EEZ.

On July 4, 2011, China protested and send a Note

Verbale to the Philppines stating the Chinese
government urges the Philippines side to immediately
withdraw the bidding offer in Areas 3 and 4, refrain
from any action that infringes on China’s soverreignity
and sovereign rights.
 Chinese Coast Guard vessels harassed a
Philippine Survey Ship in Reed Bank in 2011
In March 2011, two Chinese coast guard vessel, the
CMS-71 and CMS-75, prevented a Philippine-
commissioned ship, the MV Veritas Voyager, from
undertaking oil and gas survey in the Reed Bank,
which is entirely within the Philippines EEZ.

The 9-dashed lines cut through Malampaya, the

Philippines’ largest operating gas field which suppplies
40% of the energy requirement of Luzon.
China seized Scarborough (Panatag)
Shoal in 2012
In 2012, China seized Scarborough Shoal from the
Philippines. In November 2012, following a three-
month standoff between Philippines and Chinese
vessels around the shoal, China informed the
Philippines that Chinese coast guard vessels would
remain permanently on the shoal.

Scarborough Shoal is rich in fisheries and is one of the

traditional fishing grounds of Filipino in Zambales.
Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) Shoal
Philippines wins arbitration case vs.
China over South China Sea
July 2016, It has finally been decided that the
Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the
West Philippine Sea (in the South China Sea) and that
China’s “nine-dash line” is invalid, according to the
United Nations (UN) Arbitral Tribunal.
The Tribunal also said that China has violated
Philippine sovereign rights.

“Having found that certain areas are within the

exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, the
Tribunal found that China had violated the
Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive
economic zone by (a) interfering with Philippine
fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing
artificial islands and (c) failing to prevent Chinese
fishermen from fishing in the zone,” the tribunal
statement said.
China said that it was the victim in the
maritime dispute over the West Philippine Sea
and that it would never accept any decision by
the United Nations (UN) arbitral tribunal.

“The origin and crux of the disputes between China

and the Philippines in the South China Sea lie in the
territorial sovereignty disputes caused by the
Philippines’ illegal occupation of some islands and
reefs of China’s Nansha Islands since the 1970s,”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeperson Hua
Chunying said in an official statement.
Through the arbitration case filed by at the
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea
(ITLOS), the Philippines hopes to clarify
whether China’s claim is valid or not.

Since the Philippines backed down from the

Scarborough shoal standoff back in 2012, China
has been effectively exercising control over waters
around the Spratly Islands off the coast of Palawan
and Scarborough off the coast of Subic.
END OF PRESENTATION