Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday reaffirmed the Philippines' commitment to defending its maritime rights and upholding international law, calling for collective action to resist unilateral attempts to reshape the international order.

Speaking at the National West Philippine Sea Summit, held on 8-9 July 2026 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the South China Sea Arbitration, Teodoro said protecting the country's maritime rights begins with cultivating greater public understanding and national ownership of the West Philippine Sea.

"There should be increasing awareness and ownership of the West Philippine Sea, Kalayaan Island Group, our EEZ in the whole of the Philippines, and extended continental shelf, in an increasingly granular manner. Such knowledge and awareness must be cascaded heavily so that it forms part of the psyche of our normal citizen, Juan de la Cruz or Juana de la Cruz," Teodoro said.

The defense chief said awareness alone is not enough, stressing that Filipinos must embrace the country's maritime domain as a shared national responsibility.

"I was looking for a Tagalog or Filipino term to capture the spirit of knowledge. I was thinking, pag-ako, pag-angkin, pagmamay-ari, it's not enough... It's pagyakap, you embrace. Why do you embrace? It's because you have ownership. You steward, you don't kill the people you embrace... You nurture, and you protect. 'Yakap' denotes a special bond, like a parent with a child," he said.

Teodoro added that safeguarding the country's maritime rights is a responsibility owed to future generations.

"Why is this important? To me, it's really important because we steward these areas, all of these areas, not for ourselves, but for future generations of Filipinos, for whom, in order to steward these areas, we should make major commitments and investments," he said.

He also underscored the importance of sustained cooperation among like-minded nations in preserving a rules-based international order.

"We need adherents, we need co-actors, and, for lack of a better term, co-investors to resist any unilateral attempt to reshape the international order for the unilateral and selfish advantage of a leadership," Teodoro said.

The summit was organized by the WPS Foundation in partnership with the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea, government agencies, academic institutions and private sector stakeholders. The two-day event featured lectures, policy dialogues and town hall discussions on the law of the sea, maritime governance, national security and Philippine approaches to the West Philippine Sea.