The report about China’s missile testing in the West Philippine Sea is quite disturbing.

If there is an agreement with China to fish in our EEZ, either written or unwritten, we believe this raises the following vital questions:

Exactly three years ago, on the 12th of July 2016, the Tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS declared that China’s claims to historic rights, or other sovereign rights or jurisdiction, with respect to the maritime areas encompassed by its “nine-dash line” defy and violate international law.

The attention of the embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Manila has been drawn to a publication titled “Chang eyed as next US envoy to Phl” at the front page of the Wednesday, 10th July, 2019 edition of your newspaper wherein one of your reporters, Pia Lee-Brago enlisted the Federal Republic of Nigeria, alongside Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia as conflict inflicted areas.

Maritime security and law enforcement, fisheries management, promotion of coastal welfare, and illicit trade are among the problem areas the Philippines and neighboring countries face in the Sulu and Celebes Seas.