MANILA — Incidents of harassment or land reclamation are occurring daily in the South China Sea, preventing the Philippines from using its exclusive economic zone in the area, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said over the weekend.

"On a day-to-day basis, there are still many events occurring in the South China Sea. And there are daily incidents, at least as far as we see it, of cases of harassment or land reclamation, which in many cases have been depriving the Philippines of the use of our exclusive economic zone," Manalo said in a panel discussion during the Munich Security Conference 2023 in Germany.

The Philippines recently protested China's flashing of military-grade laser on its coast guard vessel near the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), which is within the Southeast Asian country's EEZ as provided for by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and affirmed by the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The arbitral award invalidated China's historical basis for its claims. But the Asian superpower is disregarding the ruling.

"It is these challenges which the Philippines and other countries in our region face, especially those who have claims also in the South China Sea. So more or less, that is the daily situation that we face," said Manalo, whose country calls the part of the South China Sea that it claims as West Philippine Sea.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have competing claims in the South China Sea.

"Our hope is that the international community, in the context of affirming the need for a rules-based order, would understand our position and help us and support not only the Philippines and other countries in ensuring that we have adherence to a rules-based order in the South China Sea," said Manalo.

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DFA figures show that as of Feb. 17, the Philippines has filed 76 diplomatic protests under the Marcos, Jr. administration, including on the recent laser pointing incident that was filed on Feb. 14.

China denied it used a "military-grade" laser, a claim that the Philippine Coast Guard vehemently rejected.

• Philippine Coast Guard slams China's denial of laser use in sea row

Manalo pointed out the need to peacefully resolve competing claims and adhere to rules-based approaches.

He said tensions caused by incidents and aggressive actions inconsistent with the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea were not conducive to promoting peace and stability.

"The (United Nations) could have a role in the sense of bringing this issue to the fore in discussions and debates. And perhaps, the Council could have a debate maybe not necessarily directly on, let's say, the arbitral award, but on rule and order for example, or rule in order to prevent still in the maritime domain in the South China Sea, and to talk about UNCLOS," Manila's top diplomat said.

"Discussions like that would help create greater awareness of the importance of UNCLOS and also of maintaining a rules-based order so that any disputes or conflicts are settled through the rule of law and through peaceful means and not through coercive measures or aggressive moves," he added.

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