Aquino signs order renaming South China Sea

Manila: Philippine President Benigno Aquino signed an administrative order which identified the South China Sea facing the western flank of his country as “West Philippines Sea of the Republic of the Philippines”.

“This is based on local and international laws prescribing baselines and the use and management of natural resources near the country,” said Aquino when he released on Tuesday the Administrative Order (AO) No 29 which he signed seven days ago, on September 5.

The Philippines owns “maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago,” Aquino’s administrative order explained, adding, “These areas [in the country’s western sea board] include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.”

Aquino asked the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) to “produce and publish charts and maps of the Philippines reflecting the West Philippine Sea [as part of the Philippines]”.

All government offices must use the new official map of the Philippines, said Aquino’s administrative order.

The department of education, commission on higher education and state universities and colleges (SUCs) must issue circulars requiring the use of the new official map in schools, researches and instructional materials, text books, instructional materials, and audio-visual presentations, said Aquino’s administrative order.

“The expenditures which may be incurred in the implementation of this Order shall be funded from the existing annual budget of the concerned agencies, subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations,” said Aquino.

The Philippine government will submit the official map, including Aquino’s administrative order, before the Secretary-General of the United Nations and other organisations, such as the International Hydrographic Organisation and the United Nations Conference on the Standardisation of Geographical Names.

This will strengthen the country’s claim on the Freedom eight-island chain on the Spratly Archipelago which is on the contested South China Sea, experts said.

Earlier, former Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani, including former defence, energy, foreign affairs and natural resources officials and members of the academe, released to Aquino and other government officials an 11-page “white paper” which called for “a comprehensive and strategic approach to policy-making on the West Philippine Sea”.

The government must “develop a comprehensive, long-term programme for international legal actions on issues relating to the disputes,” said the informal group’s white paper.

“The West Philippine Sea disputes have had the most impact on our ties with China, the United States and with Southeast Asia. The disputes have led to an undesirable sharp deterioration in our relations with China, an increased need to strengthen defence cooperation with the US, while challenging us to help build a common Asean position,” said the white paper.

Last year, Aquino ordered the use of “West Philippine Sea,” in lieu of the South China Sea, adding the use of the sea’s new name was a form of entitlement and sovereignty over the disputed seas.

Starting April, Philippine and Chinese vessels were involved in a standoff near the Scarborough Shoal, adjacent to central Luzon.

China, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim the whole of the South China Sea, based on their respective historical rights. Brunei, Malaysia, and Philippines claim some parts of the Kalayaan Island on the South China Sea, based on the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea’s provision of 200-nautical miles exclusive economic zone from countries’ shores.