Spratlys

Dangerous Ground

The first time I came across the term “dangerous ground” was during my sea phase training in September 1976 on board BRP Rizal, a fleet minesweeper, when the ship conducted resupply of the marines deployed in Spratlys. The nautical charts then were blueprint copies but one could not miss the words “dangerous ground” printed in the charts in bold letters….


Philippine Coast Guard to get its Biggest Patrol Ships

Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has concluded an agreement with the Republic of the Philippines to construct 2 multi-role response vessels (MRRVs). These vessels will be built at Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and are scheduled for delivery to the Philippine Coast Guard in 2022. With a length of about 94 meters, the MRRVs…



MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: Reframing the narrative from one of contestation to consensus-building and cooperation

(A presentation made by (DENR) Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh during the Roundtable Discussion on West Philippine Sea/South China Sea organized by the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations (PCFR) and Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) held on 9-October-2019 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) CURRENT STATE OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES IN…


Global Expansion Efforts by China From My Perspective

My past research efforts have been mostly directed to Philippine environmental issues, maritime encroachment in Philippine waters as well as maritime safety issues as they impact the Philippines in both the West Philippine Sea as well as the China Sea to the north. I have since broadened my research to not only maritime issues –from the West Philippine Sea to…


CHINA’S MARITIME CAMPAIGN IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

The construction of military-grade bases in three artificial islands (Subi, Fiery Cross and Mischief Reefs), posting of troops with missile defense capability in four others (Cuarteron, Gaven, Hughes, and Johnson South Reefs), conduct of regular naval and coast guard patrols, and use of paramilitary fishing units in the South China Sea are clear indications that China’s maritime campaign has fully…


Putting Things in Perspective

Introduction There appears to be much disagreement, if not chaos, arising from discussions on certain law of the sea concerns of the Philippines. Politics is clearly a factor here, but undeniably, there is likewise an issue concerning the appreciation of the law(s). As a sovereign state, the Philippines has a government and exercises sovereignty over its subjects and its territory….


Considerations on the Legal Approach to Dispute Settlement: The Philippine Experience with the South China Sea Arbitration

The filing of a case against China was a historic moment in Philippine foreign relations: it was the first time that the Philippines resorted to an international judiciary to settle a political dispute.1 In retrospect, the effort was well worth it, at least from a legal standpoint. On 12-July-2016, three years since filing the case on 22-January-2013, the Philippines secured…



Protect the “Philippine Rise” Prevent the “Philippine Fall”

“It would be ‘dumb’ of the Philippines to allow China to explore Philippine Rise despite Beijing’s disrespect for a U.N.-backed arbitral court ruling recognizing Manila’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.” – Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 15-January-2018) “Benham, or Philippine Rise, is part of our EEZ and the exploitation of its resources is…


Maintaining Freedom of Navigation

Many security challenges beset the nation as it welcomes 2018. At the domestic front, the continuing violent activities of the terrorists and other lawless armed groups in Mindanao and Sulu Sea necessitate extension of martial rule and increased deployment of security forces. Apart from armed conflict the detrimental effects of ecological imbalance brought about and expected to induce calamities and…


Proceedings of 123rd Maritime Forum

The 123rd Maritime Forum was held at the NDCP last 30-June-2017, 0800-1200H. The Maritime Forum is one of the activities the Maritime League, “a non­profit Filipino maritime foundation was established in 1990 to address the need for an organization, which will help spur progress in the maritime sector and advance the interest of the maritime profession and the maritime industry…


Maritime Review (Jul-Aug 2017 Issue)

Feature story: Rearing a Maritime Nation by VADM Emilio C. Marayag, Jr. AFP (Ret). Also in this issue: Philippine Maritime Conference 2017 at the PhilMarine 2017 by Vicky Viray-Mendoza; Learning from Korea by COMMO Carlos L. Agustin AFP (Ret); Statement of Justice Carpio on China’s threat to go to war with the Philippines by Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines; and PRS Supports MARINA with latest Technology on Probabilitic Damage Stability Calculations.


Rearing A Maritime Nation

The presentation of some groups working to promote awareness of the archipelagic and maritime nature of the nation is one of the highlights of the recent Maritime Forum held last month at the National Defense College of the Philippines. This could have been triggered by the developing situations in the South China Sea and Benham Rise in the Philippine Sea….



No Picture

Strategy: National Security Scenarios for Post-Election Period

In the 112th Maritime Forum, I responded positively to the proposal of a former Undersecretary of National Defense, Atty. Fernando Campos to discuss Strategy. He suggested discussing “National Security Scenarios for the post-election period.” Campos was also a former Governor of Cavite and a former Congressman of Cavite. He sent me his discussion paper, THE BIRTH OF A NEW PHILIPPINES:…


US President Obama speech to US and Filipino soldiers at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

Philippine Vulnerabilities in its Rift with China

“[Beijing is] building a Great Wall of sand over islands claimed by several countries. China’s pattern of provocations toward smaller claimant countries on the basis of the sweeping 9-dash Line which is inconsistent with international law, and the wide asymmetry between China’s capabilities and of her weak neighbors, raises serious questions about Chinese intentions.”


South China Sea/West Philippine Sea Dispute

About half of the world’s seaborne trade passes through the South China Sea (SCS) valued at US$5.3 trillion annually. The SCS dispute has the potential to overturn the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the constitution for the earth’s oceans and seas. For the Philippines, at stake in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) are: (1) 80%…


Taiwan’s New President

In 16-January 2016, J.R. Wu and Ben Blanchard reported on Asia Times that Taiwan’s President-elect Tsai Ing-wen called for freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea, and for a peaceful resolution to the growing dispute in the area.


The West Philippine Sea Situation

My involvement in the Spratlys, South China Sea and West Philippine Sea issue goes back a long way. As a junior  officer, fresh from the Naval Academy, I was part of a secret mission sometime in 1971. I transported troops,weapons, equipment and supplies to the islands we occupied in Freedomland, now called the Kalayaan Island Group.