Carpio said Lorenzana’s remarks just showed the “lack of understanding” of the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea, waters within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea. He said the arbitral ruling shelved Beijing’s “nine-dash line” policy, which laid claim over nearly the entire South China Sea believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits. Lorenzana issued the remarks in reaction to a Social Weather Stations poll which showed that 9 of 10 Filipinos wanted the Duterte administration to regain islands which China had unlawfully occupied in the Spratlys archipelago.

Ramos, M. (2018, July 25). DND parroting China ‘unusual’. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A4.