Ten years have passed since the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued its July 12 decision granting the Philippines maritime rights in its exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, in the disputed part of the South China Sea (SCS). The ruling is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. But instead of becoming a tool for the peaceful settlement of disputes, and for the development of the Philippines’ maritime resources, the two successive regimes have squandered it to advance their own self-interests.

While in power, Rodrigo Duterte brushed it aside in a bid to curry favor with China and win political support for his family and clique. Ferdinand Marcos Jr in his time brandished it to raise tensions at sea, in line with his US imperialist master’s plan. In exchange, he gets US support for his cronies and despised family.

Over the past four years, Marcos used the ruling to justify allowing the US to set up more military bases, stockpile missiles and weapons, and deploy thousands of troops in the Philippines. This aligns with the US strategy to “contain” China’s growing power. This is now the biggest obstacle to peacefully resolving the maritime conflict. It has further worsened the plight of Filipino fisherfolk who should be freely sailing and returning to their traditional fishing grounds.

Aggressive US maneuvers in the South China Sea

American and allied operations in the South China Sea grew more intense and aggressive over the past year, stoking the conflict between the Philippines and China. Its warships and bombers carried out relentless reconnaissance not only in the SCS, but also in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. The US also used unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, more often to monitor activities and challenge Chinese forces. It also deployed more unmanned sea vehicles for surveillance integrated with its maritime operations.

Warships of the US reportedly carried out nine operations in the SCS in 2025. It sent at least 12 submarines into the area in the same period. One of these was the USS Ohio, which “operated” out of Subic Bay in Zambales for almost the whole year.

The US launched as many as 1,200 “sorties,” or aerial operations, in the SCS. A large number or 450 of them (1-2 per day) came from the Philippines, especially Basa Airbase in Clark, Pampanga, which has been turned into the “drone base” of Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1. The US flies MQ-9A Reaper drones from there to monitor and intensify tensions around Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

In the same period, the US also staged large war games, where its troops, together with Filipino troops and others, rehearsed “archipelagic defense” and “distributed operations,” or the rapid shifting of equipment and troops across the sea and between islands.

The US carried out eight multilateral voyages in Philippine waters, together with warships from Australia, Japan, and others, in just the first six months this year.

Patriotism grounded in independence

Fisherfolk and other patriotic sectors protested on July 13 at the US embassy to denounce US imperialism as the “actual threat” to national sovereignty in the Philippines. The action marked the 10th anniversary and the assertion of the 2016 PCA ruling.

The sectors denounced the regime’s commemoration of the ruling, which focused only on denouncing China while defending the US’s bigger violations of the country’s sovereignty. The Marcos regime’s commemorative activities stirred anti-Chinese sentiments. This is while they conceal or remain silent on the scale of the US presence and the frequency of its provocative operations in the SCS. They insist that malign foreign troops are “friends,” and push the Filipino people to support the imperialist war that the US wants to ignite.

The most active in these fake patriotic activities is the Atin Ito Coalition of the pro-US Akbayan Party-list. While the coalition attacks China, it helps conceal the direct presence of American troops and their war games in various parts of the Philippines.