The history of the Philippines continues to tell us a story of our fragmented yet significant past, which remains relevant in solving disputes in the contemporary era.

One of the longest-running and most complicated disputes is with China, over ownership of the West Philippine Sea and the various islands, reefs and waters within it.

The difference between the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea remains confusing for some. The South China Sea is a section of the Pacific Ocean from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca in the south-west to the Strait of Taiwan in the north-east. The West Philippine Sea is just part of this much larger sea; it refers to the bodies of water on the western side of the Philippine archipelago that fall into the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from the Philippine shore.

The first formal evidence of the Philippines’ ownership of the West Philippine Sea comes from the historic Velarde Map, published in Manila in 1734. The Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas is a scientific map that helped determine the make-up of the Philippine archipelago.

It was made by Jesuit friar and cartographer Pedro Murillo Velarde, alongside engraver Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay and artist Francisco Suarez, who were Filipinos. The map includes the West Philippine Sea, Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

In December 1947, China published a U-shaped dotted line, drawn by Chinese cartographer Yang Huairen, as a visual representation of the sea and land that China claims within the South China Sea. With this eleven-dash-line – now known as the nine-dash-line – Yang introduced 286 chunks of rock and reef, naming the territory collectively as the “South China Sea Islands”.

The West Philippine Sea, Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands all fall within the nine-dash-line – so China claims it has sovereignty over them all.

Despite territorial disputes over the South China Sea tracing back to the late 1940s, the threats from China became more powerful and assertive during the mid-1990s with the Panganiban Reef incident and have escalated further since the Scarborough Shoal stand-off in 2012.

In 1995, the Philippine navy found evidence of Chinese forces building octagonal huts as shelters for their fishermen on Panganiban Reef (aka Mischief Reef) in the Spratly Islands. President Ramos – then president of the Philippines – sought a diplomatic settlement, which resulted in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Declaration on the South China Sea Code of Conduct.

This called for a peaceful resolution of disputes, the exercise of restraint by involved parties, and cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Despite the agreement, the Chinese continued the establishment of the huts unbeknownst to the Philippines until a year later.

Almost two decades later, in 2012, there was a major incident at Scarborough Shoal when Chinese surveillance vessels prevented the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen sailing across Scarborough Shoal. The coast guards and navies of both nations were involved in the stand-off amid China’s rigorous efforts to militarize the area.

The stand-off influenced the Philippine government to institute legal proceedings in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), an intergovernmental organisation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The PCA finally reached a verdict in July 2016.

The ruling found firmly in favour of the Philippines, declaring that China’s claims in the South China Sea do not include a “historic title”, and declared its employment of the nine-dash line, land reclamation activities and reciprocal occupation of the West Philippine Sea impermissible. China refused to recognise the ruling.

Since President Ferdinand ‘BongBong’ R. Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022, up to December 2023, the Philippines submitted more than 130 diplomatic protests in the long-running dispute, as China continued its blatant aggression towards Philippine-owned vessels.

A resolution remains unlikely because the long-running dispute is still continuing. In early May this year, the Philippines lodged yet another diplomatic protest against China for a water cannon attack on Philippine surveillance vessels, fishing vessels and the coast guard, which happened near the Scarborough Shoal during a resupply mission on 30 April. The Philippines also complained of China’s continuous attempts to build barriers in the shoal to prevent local fishing vessels from entering the area.

Two weeks later, on 15 May, around 100 boats, including 200 volunteers and 100 fishermen, gathered for a civilian mission to Scarborough Shoal led by the Atin To (‘This Is Ours’) coalition. The objective was to conduct a “peace and solidarity regatta” and install symbolic markers to reinforce the Philippines’ territorial integrity within the Philippine EEZ.

In early June, a Chinese navy obstructed a Philippine marine scientific survey mission in Sabina Shoal, according to the Philippine coast guard. The Chinese announced a sudden amphibious drill, which saw the launch of Chinese hovercraft, aircraft and manoeuvres. On 12 June, despite the continued presence of several Chinese vessels, the Philippine coast guard held the first flag-raising ceremony at Sabina Shoal, to commemorate the country’s 126th Independence Day.

On 17 June, the Chinese coast guard rammed some of the Philippine navy’s inflatable boats, boarded them and stole seven disassembled rifles, preventing a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre (an old warship that serves as a Filipino military outpost) at the Ayungin Shoal. Seaman Jeffrey Facundo lost his right thumb and six others were injured after being hit by a Chinese vessel.

A few days later, in a speech delivered at the Western Command headquarters in Puerto Princesa City, President Marcos said the Philippines will not use force or intimidation or deliberately inflict injury or harm to anyone. The Philippines’ calls for peace stem from the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the PCA ruling from 2016.

As the Philippines seeks the end of the seven decades-long dispute on the West Philippine Sea, we ask for support from the ASEAN, the Southeast Asia Protocol on Engagements at Sea between Coast Guards and Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies (SEA-PEACE), and political organisations and unions.