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Some Chinese scholars reportedly concluded during a purported symposium on June 30 that the Batanes Islands belong to China through Taiwan. This is not true, based on the local evidence and international treaties.
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.
In its reckless manner of bullying countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia, China has managed to make two nations become close military partners despite having been adversaries during the Second World War.
International opinion supporting Philippine position will not force China to give back Scarborough Shoal to the Philippines. The Philippines has to initiate that. Does the Philippines then have the will to carry out an operation to liberate Bajo de Masinloc/Scarborough Shoal from Chinese control?
For the Philippines, the task is not simply to remember the Award. It is to operationalise it through law, practice, diplomacy, and sustained presence. The real anniversary question is not whether Manila won in 2016, but whether it can convert that victory into enduring maritime resilience, regional leadership, and legal resistance in the face of power.That is the unfinished work of the Award.
The National Maritime Council bears particular responsibility...A multi-agency approach is necessary, but convergence without leadership is fragmentation. Public messaging by maritime and security agencies must reinforce a coherent diplomatic line, not generate parallel narratives that complicate it.
An erroneous video on Facebook claims that the U.S. sent troops to defend Taiwan from China. This is not true.
A Facebook reel supposedly showing a rocket explosion in Puerto Princesa, Palawan has gone viral. This is false.
A video circulating online shared a warning from the NDRRMC urging caution over the launch of a Chinese rocket. This is misleading.
