PH files diplomatic protest vs China’s Scarborough baseline

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has filed a diplomatic protest against China after the latter defined a baseline of "territorial waters" around the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), GMA Integrated News’ Joseph Morong reported on Unang Balita on Wednesday.

From July 1, 2022 to November 12, 2024, the Philippines has filed a total of 189 diplomatic protests against China under the Marcos administration, according to the DFA.

China on Sunday said it had defined a baseline around Scarborough Shoal in response to Philippine approval of two laws defining its sea lanes and maritime zones to bolster its territorial claims around the South China Sea (SCS).

The National Maritime Council (NMC) said China’s baseline violated the long-established sovereignty of the Philippines and continued Beijing's illegal seizure of the shoal in 2012.

“Moreover, the use of straight baselines around the shoal by China contravenes UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award,” the NMC said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Straight baselines can only be used in accordance with the criteria and conditions provided in UNCLOS, as explained in the 2016 Arbitral Award. These conditions are not present in the case of BDM,” it added.

Due to this, the NMC pointed out that China’s baseline over Scarborough Shoal is “without any legal basis or effect.”

Scarborough Shoal, also called Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is within the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

In 2012, the shoal became the site of a two-month standoff between the Philippines and China when Manila's forces spotted Beijing’s fishermen collecting endangered giant clams, corals, and other marine resources from the area.

This prompted the administration of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to sue China before the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2013.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has not recognized the decision.