Steps to better equip journalists on reporting about the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have been made.
The Philippine Center for Journalism (PCIJ) conducted a 3-day WPS, training, “Uncovering the Depths” aiming to hone the skills of journalists. Carmela Fonbuena, the PCIJ Executive Director said “Nowadays, WPS is not usually tackled by individuals to the point that they don’t have much interest in it.”
Journalists from Baguio city, Bicol, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Isabela, Palawan, and Zambales with news networks; ABS-CBN, Altermidya, Bombo Radyo – Isabela, GMA Network, K5 News FM, TV5, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinoy Weekly, and North Luzon Monitor underwent sessions focusing on the WPS, January 23-25, 2025, in Quezon City.
Marites Vitug, the author of “The Unrequited Love: Duterte’s China Embrace,” which tackles the role of the media in the WPS narrative, stressed each Filipino should care about the WPS saying, “Gusto kong pag-usapan natin, kasi I think several of you said, ‘Why should we care about the WPS?’ ang layo-layo nito sa Albay. [I want us to talk about it, because I think several of you said ‘Why should we care about the WPS?’ it is too far from Albay.]
Vitug underscored factors why each Filipino should care about the WPS; Sovereign Rights dictate the Philippines has exclusive rights to the WPS within the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling, despite the intervention by other countries.
Rule of law and justice where UNCLOS is an international treaty that regulates the use of the world’s seas, including WPS; the WPS provides Filipinos food security in which 30% of the coral reef in the country is hosted by WPS, and 27% of the Philippine commercial fisheries production come from the WPS, distributed in every part of the country; Source of energy wherein the Malampaya Gas Field and Reed Bank in the WPS are rich in natural gas and oil, which are important sources and potential energy supplies of the country but face the challenge of territorial debate and foreign trespassing.
Vitug said the WPS is a major international shipping lane essential to global maritime trade for goods from East Asia to Europe and North America, critical for the economy.
In the coming months the PCIJ will comverge journalists from Visayas and Mindanao for a similar training.
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio defined territorial disputes in the WPS as the claim of islands, reefs and maritime disputes as related to rights in the surrounding islands and the use of natural resources under the sea.
“In their [Chinese] position paper, they quoted the Philippine Constitution of 1935 saying, ‘Philippine Territory comprises a territory that is held by the US in exactly the three treaties’ so we agreed with China. Yes, that is our territory.” Justice Carpio said.
Howie Severino, the PCIJ chairman of the Board of Editors, raised questions on the USA and how it will affect the WPS while Ellen Tordesillas, Executive Director of Vera Files focused on disinformation and fact-checking on social media platforms.
Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Retired Rommel Jude Ong, said the WPS is considered a strategic maritime area of great importance to freedom of navigation of military operations adding the importance of sovereignty and the maintenance of regional stability. Alexis Aubrey Asalil, University of the Philippines Baguio, Student Journalist in Training (SJT)
