Panelo confuses West Philippine Sea with whole South China Sea

John Gabriel Agcaoili, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1692774" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>MANILA - Malacañang&#x27;s top legal counsel is apparently confused with the difference between the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.</p><p>In an interview with ANC&#x27;s After the Fact on Tuesday, chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said that the West Philippine Sea, which is the country&#x27;s exclusive economic zone in the disputed South China Sea, is also being claimed by other nations besides China.</p><p>Asked if what&#x27;s stopping the Philippines from enforcing the 2016 UN arbitral victory that invalidated Beijing&#x27;s expansive 9-dash line claim in the hotly-contested South China Sea, within which is the Philippine EEZ, Panelo said Manila cannot enforce the ruling due to other countries&#x27; territorial claims.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/21/duterte-aquino-roque-west-philippine-sea-china-quiet">Palace: Duterte wants hush on sea dispute with China</a></li></ul><p>&quot;You must remember that in the West Philippine Sea, there are many countries disputing that (ruling)... for instance Vietnam has 21 reefs or islands there. China has seven, Taiwan has one, Malaysia has five, and Philippines has nine,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Just to clarify this, Secretary Panelo, are you referring to the West Philippine Sea, the EEZ, or the Spratlys dispute?&quot; ANC&#x27;s Christian Esguerra asked.</p><p>&quot;The entire West Philippine Sea. That&#x27;s the disputed territory. There are so many claimants there,&quot; the Palace official replied.</p><p>&quot;Wait, so I&#x27;d like to get this clear so as not to be accused of misconstruing your statements. So for you, the West Philippine Sea is disputed?&quot; Esguerra again asked.</p><p>&quot;What I&#x27;m saying is, that area, there are claimants, even within the exclusive economic zone, Vietnam is within that area,&quot; Panelo answered, even offering a map supposedly marking disputes in the West Philippine Sea by various countries.</p><p>Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea and who was also part of the same interview, fact-checked Panelo&#x27;s statements, saying there is a clear distinction between the territorial rows and the maritime disputes in the South China Sea, the latter of which the UN ruled over in 2016.</p><p>&quot;If you say the West Philippine Sea, the basis should be really Administrative Order [No.] 29, which clearly refers to only part of the South China Sea, which is under Philippine jurisdiction. It has never been synonymous with the South China Sea,&quot; Batongbacal said.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s (EEZ) not the entire area of the South China Sea. And the arbitration award does not deal with territorial disputes. Even the arbitration tribunal makes it clear, at every step, that it is not going to deal, in either way, with the territorial disputes over the islands and rocks ... It&#x27;s dealing only with the maritime aspects, meaning jurisdiction over the waters outside of those territories,&quot; he explained.</p><p>Under Administrative Order No. 29, the EEZ, which extends at a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines of the Philippine archipelago, was named the West Philippine Sea in 2012. </p><p>The Philippines has sovereignty over the maritime domain under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 56 of the UNCLOS states that the country, as the coastal state in the disputed waters, has &quot;sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting conserving and managing the natural resources&quot; of its EEZ.</p><p>Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia, and Brunei&#x27;s competing territorial and maritime claims in areas of the South China Sea are outside of the West Philippine Sea</p><p>Despite the 2016 UN ruling, China has aggressively encroached on reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, including some areas of the Philippine EEZ.</p><p>President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration have been blamed for the recent Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea due to his refusal to press Beijing to obey the 2016 ruling, as he sought investments and loans from the superpower.</p><p>Duterte was slammed earlier after he said the Philippine arbitral victory was a &quot;piece of paper&quot; that led to nothing.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/17/21/legal-analysts-south-china-sea-arbitral-win-of-ph-not-a-mere-piece-of-paper">Legal analysts: South China Sea arbitral win of PH not a mere piece of paper</a></li></ul><p>Malacañang has said it was &quot;not okay&quot; for China to continue its militarization of the West Philippine Sea, but at the same time asked what the Philippines could do about this. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/21/malacanang-not-okay-what-can-we-do-scarborough-china">Palace: China militarization in PH waters, &#x27;not okay, but what can we do?&#x27;</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1682892" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>MANILA - Malacañang's top legal counsel is apparently confused with the difference between the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.</p>

MANILA - Malacañang's top legal counsel is apparently confused with the difference between the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.

Panelo confuses West Philippine Sea with whole South China Sea | ABS-CBN

Entertainment

News

Metro.Style

Sports

More

News

Panelo confuses West Philippine Sea with whole South China Sea

Panelo confuses West Philippine Sea with whole South China Sea

John Gabriel Agcaoili,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 25, 2021 10:38 PM PHT

Read More:

Panelo

Salvador Panelo

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

China

Philippines

Malacañang

EEZ

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Advertise with Us

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.