SINGAPORE — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday that the Philippines will do "whatever it takes" to protect its sovereign home as the country will not allow anyone to remove the West Philippine Sea from the nation.

In his keynote speech during the 2024 IISS Shangri-la Dialogue here on Friday, Marcos said that the Philippines has defined its territory and maritime time zones as a law-abiding member of the international community.

Marcos said that the country's claims are derived from international law, and "not from imagination" as the Philippines is in the frontlines of efforts to assert the integrity of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the Constitution of the Oceans.

"Unlike others, we have submitted our assertions to rigorous legal scrutiny by the world’s leading jurists," Marcos said in the Asia's premier defense forum in a hit against China who claimed the majority of the South China Sea through its updated 10-dash line.

"The life-giving waters of the West Philippine Sea flow in the blood of every Filipino. We will never allow anyone to detach it from the totality of the maritime domain that renders our nation whole," Marcos added.

The Chief Executive said that the 1982 UNCLOS and the binding 2016 Arbitral Award are on the side of the Philippines, which affirms "what is ours by legal right."

Marcos also mentioned that the country finds strength in defending the country "to the last square inch (and) to the last square millimeter)" through the solid legal footing and "clear moral ascendancy."

"As President, I have sworn to this solemn commitment from the very first day that I took office. I do not intend to yield. Filipinos do not yield," Marcos said.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia each assert claims to different portions of the South China Sea, while China claims nearly the entire area.

Taiwan also claims a significant part of the South China Sea, but unlike Beijing, Taipei has refrained from using aggressive tactics to support its claims.

But unlike most Southeast Asian countries with claims in the South China Sea, Manila has been particularly vocal and assertive in defending its sovereign rights and territorial claims.

In the same keynote speech, Marcos also called for respect for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Centrality in maintaining regional peace and stability.

"Any state that professes a stake in the continued peace and stability of this region must respect ASEAN Centrality not only with words but also with action. All partnerships and arrangements must never displace or dilute, but rather uphold and complement ASEAN’s central role," Marcos said.