During the 2019 SONA, President Duterte acknowledged our United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) victory against China, and that “[o]ur ownership of the West Philippine Sea is internationally recognized.” Yet he explained how our northern neighbor, through Chinese President Xi Jinping, apparently exacted Chinese fishing rights through threats of war in our Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) during their first meeting in October 2016. A crucial question is: why was this agreement secret and hidden from the Filipino people for nearly three years? The answer can only be that this agreement manifestly contravenes our fundamental law – the Constitution. No Presidential agreement with China or any other country can override the explicit constitutional mandate that the “use and enjoyment” of our EEZ is “reserved...exclusively to Filipino citizens.” The agreement between President Duterte and China is therefore illegal, null and void.

del Rosario, A., & Carpio-Morales, C. (2019, July 2). 'Constitution reserves Phl EEZ to Filipinos. The Philippine Star, pp. 9, 10.