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PAG-ASA ISLAND — Residents of this brave, little island welcomed the visit of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and top officials from the military's Western Command Sunday to join them in celebrating the 10th anniversary of a landmark ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. warned that Chinese scholars’ claim of Batanes, the Philippines’ northernmost province, as part of China is a prelude to its wider maritime ambitions.
For fishermen in Zambales, the Philippines’ legal victory at the Arbitral Tribunal has not translated into greater access. “The 2016 ruling may have mattered at the top level, but we don’t feel it when we’re out at sea,” said Leonardo Cuaresma, who’s been fishing at Bajo de Masinloc for almost five decades and president of the New Masinloc Fishermen Association.
China-related activities in the country: The Diliman College in Quezon City launched Nov. 18 a new academic center aimed at reshaping the negative perception of China. This followed a large gathering of overseas Chinese citizens at the Century Park Hotel in Manila in October, opposing Taiwan independence while promoting unification with the mainland.
