By Ma. Cristina Arayata
MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reiterated on Monday the Philippines’ longstanding sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc and Kalayaan Island Group.
“The Philippines flatly rejects China’s assertion of indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. This claim has no basis in fact, no basis in history, and no basis in international law,” DFA Maritime Affairs spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva Jr. said in a press briefing.
His statement comes as a response to the Chinese Embassy’s statement issued last March 14, citing an alleged letter from former Philippine Ambassador to Germany Bienvenido Tan to a German HAM radio operator Dieter Löffler.
The letter apparently claimed that Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal lies outside the Philippines’ territorial sovereignty as defined by the 1899 Treaty of Paris, but affirmed that the area falls within the Philippines’ 200-mile economic zone.
“As regards the recent letter posted by the Chinese Embassy in Manila, the DFA will not engage in conjecture or speculation over a document of uncertain origin and authenticity, and certainly without value. There is no merit in debating supposed documentary artifacts produced by third parties and presented as posts on social media, especially if these third parties have vested interests and willfully misconstrue and misrepresent established facts” Villanueva said.
Maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures and dispute settlement mechanisms — not to unilateral proclamations or social media posts, he pointed out.
The Philippines duly proved and established its maritime claims through the 2016 Arbitral Award, which has become an integral part of international law, Villanueva stressed.
“The Philippines likewise consistently exercised and upheld sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its archipelago and other territories, including Bajo de Masinloc and the high-tide features of the Kalayaan Island Group, which is incontrovertible and firmly founded on international law and effective administration,” he added.
According to the DFA, the historical and legal foundations of Philippine sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc are unassailable.
The Murillo Velarde map of 1734 “clearly portrays the high-tide feature as Philippine territory, and all subsequent cartographic records affirm the same.”
“The Philippines has exercised continuous, uninterrupted sovereignty and jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc for centuries — demonstrated through detailed hydrographic surveys, official government correspondences, and decisive acts of administration, including its designation as a target range by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the demolition by Philippine authorities of illegal structures erected on the shoal by foreign smugglers. Sovereignty is not merely claimed — it is exercised,” Villanueva said.
Meanwhile, he said the DFA welcomes the resumption of dialogue mechanisms with China as critical platforms for effective diplomacy.
“Our pursuit of dialogue reflects a calibrated and principled commitment to peaceful dispute settlement — it does not, in any manner, dilute or qualify the Philippines’ firm, unequivocal positions in the West Philippine Sea. Our sovereignty is non-negotiable,” he said. (PNA)
