Marcoleta backpedals on West Philippine Sea remarks

Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela

MANILA, Philippines — Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta on Thursday backpedaled on the West Philippine Sea after his remark drew flak.

Marcoleta, a senatorial aspirant for the midterm polls, clarified that it is not wrong to refer to the western section of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea.

“I am not saying it is wrong for us to call [it the] West Philippine Sea, because I said, with or without name, that particular area is ours; we need to fight for it,” Marcoleta said in a One News interview.

On Feb. 4, Marcoleta said in a House hearing that there is no such thing as the West Philippine Sea and that it was only a “creation by us.”

In 2012, then-President Benigno Aquino III signed an administrative order renaming South China Sea waters within the western section of the country’s EEZ as West Philippine Sea in a bid to further assert Manila’s sovereign rights there amid Beijing’s continuous aggressions.

READ: It’s official: Aquino signs order on West Philippine Sea

Aquino also directed the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority to produce and publish charts and maps of the Philippines showing the West Philippine Sea.

READ: Tarriela slams Marcoleta over West Philippine Sea remarks

Marcoleta clarified that what he only meant by his Feb. 4 statement is that the West Philippine Sea is not indicated in the world maps.

“[W]ell, internationally, it does not exist. Because if you see international maps, there is no West Philippine Sea,” Marcoleta said.

“It is ours to claim, that this is the West Philippine Sea, but we need to do more than that,” he added.

But for Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, Marcoleta’s remarks are “undermining” the government’s official designation.

“How will the world support our use of the term [West Philippine Sea] if we ourselves undermine it? Fortunately, the majority of Filipinos recognize and use the term,” said PCG spokesperson on West Philippine Sea concern Commodore Jay Tarriela in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Feb. 10.

READ: PCG: How can world back West PH Sea term if we undermine it?

“There’s no issue with it, except for those who seem to create problems with it, like senatorial candidate Marcoleta,” he added.

Marcoleta and Tarriela traded barbs due to the issue.

Tarriela said Marcoleta’s remark is a “disservice and an embarrassment to their entire party, the organization they belong to, and even their own family.”

Marcoleta then said Tarriela is “ignorant” and he even dared the PCG official to resign once proven wrong on his West Philippine Sea position.