MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has formally endorsed the adoption of Philippine names for 131 features of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).

Outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo announced on Friday that he officially signed the National Maritime Council (NMC) Resolution No. 002 (2025), recommending the adoption of the “standard set of Philippine names for 131 features of the KIG.”

“The resolution is a recommendation to the President to standardize the Filipino names of the 131 features in the Kalayaan Island Group through an Executive Order,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza told the Philippine News Agency.

“This will help demonstrate the Philippines’ right to name such features within its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” she added.

Daza said this would formalize the adoption of those names by government agencies, and serves to implement further the 2024 Philippine Maritime Zones Act.

The KIG is located in the West Philippine Sea and is part of an archipelago of islet, sandbars, atolls, reefs, shoal and cays known internationally as the Spratly Islands in the wider South China Sea.  /gsg