National Security Adviser Eduardo Año emphasized that China’s persistent claims over the waters of Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) have “no legal basis.”

“China’s repeated claims of sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc has no basis in international law or in fact. International law is clear. China cannot, therefore, lawfully exercise sovereignty over it,” Año said in a statement on Wednesday, 31 January.

Citing international law and the arbitration ruling of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Año said the Philippines has sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc as well as the waters and continental shelf surrounding it.

He also stressed that the shoal is “an important fishing ground for fishermen of Zambales, Bataan and Pangasinan.” 

Año lamented China’s sweeping sovereign claims over almost the entire South China Sea, through its self-made 10 dash-line maps, exceeding the boundary limits under the UNCLOS ruling. 

It also overlaps the exclusive economic zones of neighboring countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Malaysia.

“As clearly stated by the 2016 arbitral award, UNCLOS superseded any ‘historic rights’ as claimed by China. Therefore, China cannot claim entitlements in areas of the ‘nine-dashed line,’ now ‘10-dashed line,’ that exceed UNCLOS limits,” Año said. 

He said the early Spanish maps of the Philippines, including the 1734 Pedro Murillo Velarde Map, showed that the Bajo de Masinloc was always part of Philippine territory. 

Año explained that when the Spaniards ceded the Philippines to the United States, under the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the Scarborough Reef was included in the census of islands conducted by the US Government.

This was affirmed under the Treaty of Washington of 1990 where Spain ceded all other islands and places to which it had title or claim of title even if not within the lines drawn by the Treaty of Paris, he added.

“Since then, the Philippines has always exercised jurisdiction over the shoal by setting up light stations and navigational aids, regular visits by the Coast Guard, law enforcement operations, and geodetic surveys,” Año stressed. 

Año said only the Philippines has the authority to exercise maritime law enforcement functions to the exclusion of other countries over the Bajo de Masinloc. 

“No amount of statements or illegal actions by other states can alter these facts,” he emphasized. 

The China Coast Guard spokesperson repeatedly uttered that Beijing “will firmly safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

For the past months, tension between Beijing and Manila in the portion of the West Philippine Sea, particularly in the Ayungin shoal and  Bajo de Masinloc, has been increasing due to China’s provocative actions such as harassment of Filipino fisherfolk, ramming and blockage of Philippine supply ships "legitimately" conducting maritime missions in the area.