President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Friday said the country will be responding to China's new standard map depicting the 10-dash lines on the South China Sea.
"Now, once again, we have received the news that now, the nine-dash line has been extended to the 10-dash line. We have to respond to all of these and we will. But again, these are operational details that I would prefer not to talk about," he told reporters in a chance interview in Palawan.
Marcos said the country will "stay true" to international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
"That I think puts us on a very solid ground in terms of our claims for territorial sovereignty, for maritime territory," he added.
The President said the government will continue to defend the country's territorial rights and sovereignty.
"We have not changed our approach. It is other countries around us that have changed their approach," he said.
Last August 28, China's Ministry of Natural Resources issued the 2023 standard map wherein a 10-dash line was drawn representing its territorial control over the South China Sea.
The said 10-dash-line covered the West Philippine Sea and the territory of other neighboring nations such as Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has rejected the 2023 map and said that China's attempt “to legitimize purported sovereignty and jurisdiction over Philippine features and maritime zones has no basis under international law."
It reiterated that the 2016 Arbitral Award has already invalidated the claims of China over areas in the West Philippine Sea and the nine-dash line.
Senator Risa Hontiveros also dismissed the map and labeled this as "delusional."
Other Senators including Juan Miguel Zubiri, Francis "Chiz" Escudero, and Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel rejected China’s latest map.
