Zubiri on Kalayaan islands: It’s ours, we can never surrender it

MANILA, Philippines—Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri vehemently rejected on Monday the idea of giving up the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) as suggested by a colleague in the upper chamber.

“We will not allow the Kalayaan Island Group to be surrendered because it is clearly part of Philippine territory under the Constitution, UNCLOS, and as affirmed by the 2016 arbitral ruling,” Zubiri said in a statement.

He was referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the international tribunal ruling which upheld the country’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. The same ruling invalidated China’s nine-dash line claim.

The Philippines sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the KIG were further strengthened by the two laws passed in the 19th Congress – the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the  Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, according to Zubiri.

“There are actual Filipinos and Filipino communities in the KIG, and it is the government’s obligation to defend it for the present and future generations,” he said.

In 2024, Zubiri himself went to Pagasa Island, a part of the KIG in the province of Palawan, for the groundbreaking of two infrastructure development projects there.

The senator, though, said Sen. Rodante Marcoleta should be be given a chance  to explain the statement attributed to him during last week’s hearing of the Commission on Appointments since he is now denying it.

“But our principle is clear: The Philippines is ours, the West Philippine Sea is ours, and the Kalayaan Island Group is ours—and it can never be surrendered,” Zubiri stressed.

In the hearing, Marcoleta talked about giving up the island group, which he said is not within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EZZ) anyway.

“What are we going to get killed for here? We will offer our lives, including the lives of our children, and to die for it, for something that is not within our EEZ?” the opposition senator asked then.

“To make things easier, we can give up the KIG and then, coordinate everything. But until—and unless—the KIG is there… if it is outside our Exclusive Economic Zone, how can it be considered part of the entire West Philippine Sea?” Marcoleta wondered.

(Note: The English translations in the article were AI-generated.)