RADM Tarriela Slams China’s “Jurisdiction” Claim in the West Philippine Sea

๐‘๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐€๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‰๐š๐ฒ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐š ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐š๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐„๐ฆ๐›๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ง๐š ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ asserting that its research vessels are conducting scientific missions in โ€œwaters of the South …

The location referred to by the Chinese Embassy is Pagasa Island and the Pagasa Cays, which form an integral part of the Kalayaan Island Group of the Philippines. These features have never been part of China. The recent activity in this area was undertaken by Philippine civil society and was not the result of any deployment or operation ordered by the Philippine government.

This area lies several hundred nautical miles from the Chinese mainland. It therefore cannot infringe upon any legitimate Chinese territorial sovereignty, as none exists here under international law. China cannot …

PCG Deploys Ships and Aircraft to Challenge and Drive Away Chinese Vessels Operating Illegally in PH Waters

๐…๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฌ were detected c๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐ฌ๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐œ๐ก in the ๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, according to PCG Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, ๐‘๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐€๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐‰๐š๐ฒ ๐“๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐š. …

University of St. La Salle Bacolod Celebrates New Generation of Civic Leaders

The University of St. La Salle (USLS) successfully held its ๐๐’๐“๐ ๐‚๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‘๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐€๐œ๐š๐๐ž๐ฆ๐ข๐œ ๐˜๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“-๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ”, marking a significant transition for hundreds of students into the ๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐’๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž …

The Chinese Embassyโ€™s statement is telling. It is asserting that their research vessels are conducting scientific missions in โ€œwaters of the South China Sea under Chinese jurisdiction,โ€ this means that they are openly admitting to violating the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and ignoring the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.

Just in case they forget, the Arbitral Tribunal clearly ruled that Chinaโ€™s claims of โ€œhistoric rightsโ€ within the so-called nine-dash line have no legal basis. Areas within the Philippinesโ€™ Exclusive …