"We have to upgrade the capability of the Philippine Navy so that we can protect our maritime waters because we are an archipelagic nation," Philippine Navy chief Robert Empedrad told reporters afterward. In 2016, the Philippines won the case as the arbitration court ruled that China's so-called nine-dash line theory -- upon which China's claims to almost the entirety of the South China Sea rests -- had no legal basis. In recent weeks, international concern over China's activities in the South China Sea have spiked again on news of their militaristic nature. But at the navy's anniversary celebration, Empedrad described actions underway to bolster the nation's maritime defenses. "I'm sure enemies that ply our maritime waters will be threatened."

Source: Bangkok Post May 28, 2018 03:56 UTC