Mendoza Confirms Sovereign Rights over West Philippine Sea

Former Solicitor General and Former Minister of Justice Estelito Mendoza, a Past Director of the Rotary Club of Manila, categorically affirmed President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s pronouncements during his Fourth (4th) State of the Nation Address that “THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA IS OURS...NO IF’S AND BUT’S”, last August 8, 2019 when he was Guest Speaker at the Joint Meeting of the Rotary Club of Manila and Upsilon Sigma Phi.

After giving a historical rundown of how the definition of our National Territory in the 1987 Constitution came about in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, he proceeded to discuss in detail how Republic Act No. 9522 which declared sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Kalayaan Islands and Bajo de Masinloc affected our sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

According to Mendoza, China has only taken exception over these two groups of islands. However, he noted that China did not question our sovereign rights over the other areas of the West Philippine Sea. This was patent in his speech when Mendoza quipped: “When on April 13, 2009, the People’s Republic of China in a “Note” submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations in regard the enactment of Republic Act No. 9522 took exception only to the inclusion of Bajo de Masinloc and some of the islands and reefs of the Kalayaan Island Group as within our sovereignty and jurisdiction notwithstanding that they have been “part of the territory of China since ancient time”, NOTHING MORE, China implicitly recognized that the resulting territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf from Republic Act No. 9522 which constitute the West Philippine Sea are OURS.”