PH maintains activities in Pag-asa Island, Pag-asa Cays lawful

A 2004 overview of Subi Reef, which is part of the territorial sea of Pagasa Island, which is the largest island occupied by the Philippines in the Spratlys. Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government on Thursday countered the position of Chinese Embassy in Manila, maintaining that the activities of Filipino authorities in Pag-asa Island and the Pag-Asa Cays are lawful.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stressed that Pag-asa Island and the Pag-asa Cays form part of the Kalayaan Island Group. It said they are an integral part of the Philippines over which it has longstanding sovereignty and jurisdiction.

“The Philippines is clearly within its rights to conduct routine maritime operations and scientific research in and around these features, and will continue to do so,” said the DFA.

The agency likewise emphasized that the actions of Philippine authorities in the area are a valid exercise of Philippine sovereignty and consistent with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.

“China has no right to object much less interfere with these lawful and routine activities,” said the DFA.

With this, the Philippine government urged China anew to respect the Philippines’ sovereignty and jurisdiction, “even as we continue to pursue peaceful and legal means to manage differences and the situation at sea.”

READ: PH allies decry China’s aggression near Sandy Cay in West PH Sea

China’s continued aggression in Philippine waters is borne out of a sweeping claim over most of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

It, however,  has long been dismissed by an arbitral tribunal./mr