Amid issues surrounding the West Philippine Sea (WPS), particularly with the proposed joint operations between the Philippines and China, Akbayan said that it hopes that Congress would consider the swift passage of its proposed WPS education bill.

Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno expressed that their bill would ensure that all Filipinos would be properly equipped with accurate information regarding the contested waters, particularly with the existence of fake news.

Diokno noted that House Bill No. 1625 had been submitted since last year; however, despite backing amongst lawmakers, no progress had been made on its passage.

“Bukas naman ang ating mga kasama sa kongreso dito sa panukalang ito, yun lang ay sana ma-fast track natin, maganda pa nga kung ma-certify ni Pangulo ito bilang isang urgent bill,” he expressed.

(Lawmakers in Congress are open to the passage of the bill. Hopefully, we can fast-track, it would be great if the President could classify it as an urgent bill)

The proposed legislation, named “West Philippine Sea Education and Awareness”, sought to incorporate information regarding the dispute in the WPS, including the 2016 arbitral ruling of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

It was ruled by UNCLOS that the resource-rich waters was in fact Philippine territory and China’s “nine-dash line” was not legally binding. The latter has since publicly rejected the decision.

Diokno explained that the ongoing issues surrounding the waters was not just merely an information issue but was something that widely affected multiple facets of Filipino lives.

He said that Chinese aggression in the waters directly affected the country’s food security, energy security, and its sovereignty.

The lawmaker further stated that they had left the implementation of such a provision to the Department of Education, but urged proper training among teachers for proper information dissemination.

“Kailangan may training din sila, dapat yung mga materyal na kailangan nila andun para syempre mabahagi nila sa kanilang estudyante,” he stressed.

(Teachers need to be trained as well; the materials that they need should be there so they can teach them to their students.)