National Security Adviser Eduardo Año has 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 have 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.

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 from Zambales, Bataan and Pangasinan.” 

Año said that China’s sweeping claims over almost the entire South China Sea, using its self-made 10 dash-line maps, exceeded the boundary limits under the UNCLOS ruling. 

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

“As clearly stated in the 2016 arbitral award, UNCLOS supersedes any ‘historic rights’ as claimed by China. Therefore, China cannot claim entitlements in areas of the ‘nine-dash line,’ now ‘10-dash 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 Bajo de Masinloc was always part of Philippine territory. 

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

A China Coast Guard spokesperson has repeatedly maintained that Beijing “will firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”

For the past months, tensions between Beijing and Manila in the West Philippine Sea, particularly at Ayungin Shoal and  Bajo de Masinloc, had been increasing due to China’s provocative actions such as its harassment of Filipino fishermen, and ramming and blocking Philippine ships conducting legitimate maritime missions in the area.