West Philippine Sea

History

Background

The term "West Philippine Sea" has been in use by the international community since at least 1961, mentioned in geology and oceanography papers. It was, however, used to refer to the western portion of the Philippine Sea, which is East of the Philippine archipelago.

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), in its Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition (1953), does not list a West Philippine Sea. Instead, the area encompassed by the West Philippine Sea is considered a portion of the South China Sea. The 1986 draft of the IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas proposed the Natuna Sea, which extends south from the Natuna and Anambas Islands to the Belitung Islands.

Modern use

The Armed Forces of the Philippines began using the name West Philippine Sea for the area around the disputed Spratly Island group since 2006. In 2011, the Philippine national government under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III started referring to the waters to the West of the Philippine archipelago as the West Philippine Sea. The officially stated purpose of the new name was related to the national mapping system,

In the House of Representatives, Akbayan representative Walden Bello filed a resolution in June 2011 urging the government to look into the process of changing the name of the South China Sea to "Western Philippine Sea". According to Bello, the term West Philippine Sea did not carry any specific spatial demarcation or geographical specificity and was meant to reflect that the South China Sea was not China’s sea. The proposal to have a different naming for the sea has received support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which has been using West Philippine Sea since the mid-2000s.

That was codified by administrative order in September 2012, which mandated use of that term by departments, subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities of the Philippine government.

2016 PCA ruling

Main article: Philippines v. China

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines in a case not involving naming. It clarified that "The Tribunal has not been asked to, and does not purport to, delimit any maritime boundary between the Parties or involving any other State bordering on the South China Sea". The tribunal also ruled that China has "no historical rights" based on the "nine-dash line" map.

Legal scope

There is no exact demarcation of boundaries for the area in the South China Sea which forms the West Philippine Sea. The Administrative order which officially named the area defined it as follows:

In Philippine law, the West Philippine Sea refers only to the portions of the South China Sea which the Philippine government claims to be part of the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The naming of the area became official through Administrative Order No. 29 issued by then-President Benigno Aquino III on September 5, 2012. The order also cites Presidential Decree No. 1599 which was issued in 1978 during the tenure of then President Ferdinand Marcos which established the Philippine EEZ as well as the Republic Act No. 9522 or the Baselines Law which was enacted into law in 2009 during the administration of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which delineated the baselines of the Philippine archipelago.

The administrative order asserts the Philippine claim over its EEZ in the South China Sea which conveys the Philippine government's position that it has sovereign rights under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over the West Philippine Sea area and "inherent power and right to designate its maritime areas with appropriate nomenclature for purposes of the national mapping system".

Usage

Under the Administrative Order No. 29, the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) is mandated to use the designation West Philippine Sea in maps produced and published by the government agency. Other government agencies are also required to use the term to popularize the use of the name domestically and internationally.

Prior to the issuance of the order, the Philippines' weather bureau, PAGASA, adopted the name in 2011 to refer to waters west of the country while remained using "Philippine Sea" to refer waters east of the archipelago.

The term West Philippine Sea has sometimes been used to refer to the whole of the South China Sea, though this is usage has been denounced as incorrect.

The term "West Philippine Sea" has been searchable in Google Maps. In April 2025, Google updated its map to include a more explicit label for the West Philippine Sea. "South China Sea" remains visible northwest of the new label. The Philippine government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines praised the move, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China objected to it. However the explicit label was temporary removed before it was later visible again.

References

References

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21. (September 5, 2012). "Administrative Order No. 29 : Naming the West Philippine Sea of the Republic of the Philippines, and for Other Purposes". Government of the Philippines.
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