The Philippines remains open to any constructive dialogue with China, particularly tackling the two countries’ ongoing territorial disputes over the West Philippine Sea, National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año said Friday. 

“We don’t want war and nobody wants war,” Año told reporters in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the Conference on the 8th Year of the Arbitral Victory and Collective Pursuit of Maritime Security in the WPS held at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City. 

Año said the Philippines will remain committed to asserting its sovereignty and sovereign rights in the WPS amid China’s heightened aggressions. 

“This is a combination of a lot of strategies, including diplomatic, information, legal, even socioeconomic and including military and law enforcement so we will balance all that,” he noted.

“The President’s statement was clear is that our diplomacy—we are open to constructive dialogue, but one thing is sure we will not lose a single inch of our territory, we will fight for our national interest,” he added. 

Año dismissed the notion that the Philippines is contributing to militarization in the area. 

“We are just doing what is really, as an independent country, we are doing everything that is in accordance to our national interests—not to any other interest—but the legitimate national interest of the Philippines,” he said. 

In commemorating the country’s 8th-year arbitral victory, Año slammed China’s “blatant” disregard of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

“The Philippines' pursuit of peace, however, has been taken over by turbulent events caused not by our own doing, but rather by outside forces and the current geopolitical conditions,” he said. 

Despite being an UNCLOS member, Año lamented China’s “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities” in the Philippine waters. 

“[B]ecause of China's blatant disregard of UNCLOS, an act we consider not befitting a responsible member of the international community, tensions currently reign in the South China Sea,” he said. 

Año also mentioned China's aggressive behavior and destructive activities, such as the construction of artificial islands, and military bases, land reclamation activities, and the deliberate deployment of its “ravenous fishing fleets deeper into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone", which he said “clearly seek to undermine international law, practices, and norms.”

“For the Philippines, the primacy of international law, particularly UNCLOS, is the cornerstone with which the country defines and protects its territory and maritime entitlements in the South China Sea,” he said. 

“It is the bedrock of peace, order, and fairness, and certainly is the foundational tenet with which the Philippines pursues the peaceful settlement of disputes in the SCS,” he added. 

Año said the country’s policy in the SCS strictly observes international law.

“Our policy in the SCS, both with respect to securing our terrestrial and maritime domain and to advocating dispute resolution and joint cooperation where applicable, is grounded on an unwavering adherence to international law,” he said.