Dangerous posturings
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta may insist that the context was “deliberately abbreviated,” but there’s no denying that his words during a Senate hearing last week flagrantly exposed where his loyalties lie.
Speaking before the Senate Commission on Appointments hearing, the senator slammed efforts by the Philippine military to ward off China’s aggressive moves in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Why offer the lives of our children, and die for something that is not even within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Marcoleta asked. “Ang gawin natin po para madali, i-give up natin ‘yung (To make things easier, let’s give up the) Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).”
This is not the first time that the senator had openly expressed pro-China sentiments over the WPS territorial dispute: In January 2026, he relayed the Chinese ambassador’s complaint about China being portrayed as the villain in the issue, and suggested that the Philippines share WPS with China.
A few months earlier, in 2025, the senator claimed that the WPS “does not exist” and is a mere “creation by us.” As a House member, he once suggested that the Philippines submit maps, coordinates, and other documents to the United Nations to bolster our claim over the WPS.
Like giving up Luzon
His son, Sagip party list Rep. Paolo Henry Marcoleta has echoed his moves to tamp down the Philippines’ counteractions against China. Should China declare war on us, those “arrogant senators” and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela—who have consistently pushed for stronger response against China’s aggression—should be at the frontlines of battle, the younger Marcoleta said, as if war were inevitable in defending the WPS.
What father and son conveniently ignored is the 2016 arbitral court ruling that debunked China’s claims over the WPS and upheld Philippine sovereignty over areas within the country’s EEZ, including the KIG.
Rep. Marcoleta’s statement drew immediate rebuke from Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson. Pagasa Island has a school, a clinic, a fishing community, and even a Commission on Elections office for its 400 Filipino residents. It is under the municipality of Kalayaan, which is part of Palawan province. “Giving up the KIG is like giving up Luzon,” Lacson added.
For Tarriela, Marcoleta’s words were “disappointing,” especially for one who holds public office. So was his response to Tarriela’s invitation to join a Maritime Domain Awareness flight to the KIG: a challenge to a “friendly debate” on the issue with the PCG official, retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, and maritime expert Jay Batongbacal. While Carpio has accepted the invitation, Tarriela said discussions about the WPS are not a matter for debate, but one of settled law, national interest, and patriotic duty.
Foreign agent
And rightly so. Maritime experts have highlighted the following local and international laws that recognized the KIG as Philippine territory: Presidential Decree No. 1596 (signed by former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.); the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea; Republic Act No. 9522 or the Archipelagic Baseline Law of the Philippines; RA 12064 or the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, and the 2016 Arbitral Award vs China. It is even enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.
With Marcoleta “following the Chinese position, [he] should register as their foreign agent,” Carpio suggested. Fighting words those, but justifiably so. Marcoleta’s words on giving up the KIG are “unacceptable” and will expose the country’s western coastline, weakening national security.
Noted Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Laws of the Sea: “If we were to give [KIG] up, we will be exposing the entire coast of the Philippines from Balabac in Palawan all the way up to the north … [and] giving up an important vantage point to establish the security of our western coast.”
Primary responsibility
Marcoleta’s statements reveal a lack of understanding of basic principles of international law, particularly on maritime zones, Batongbacal said, adding that the senator’s “willful ignorance” flouts “the applicable law, the applicable rules, and the applicable principles.”
Other lawmakers, including another minority senator acting like China’s spokesperson, should be reminded as well to whom their duties lie. As Batongbacal noted, their primary responsibility is to protect the interest of the Filipino people, and “Our interests lie in the sea. They lie in the West Philippine Sea.”
