Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. joined Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña, other Cebu City officials, and personnel for the celebration of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Victory Day at Cebu City Hall on July 13, 2026, and lauded the City Council for its “principled and dignified stand” to honor the 10th anniversary of the Arbitral Tribunal Award.
“It’s indeed a big honor and an obligation that I join you today because, several weeks back, we read in the papers the heroic stand that the city council of Cebu made to join the rest of the Philippines in honoring the 10th anniversary of our victory in the South China Sea Arbitral Award,” said Secretary Teodoro. “And against officious and misplaced meddling in our internal affairs by the Consul General of China here, Cebu City put them in the right place – that they are visitors here, they have no business interfering in our internal affairs.”
The 2016 Arbitral Tribunal Award, anchored on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights and rejects “contrived history” to justify expansive claims in the West Philippine Sea. Secretary Teodoro emphasized that to enforce this legal victory, the Philippines must converge its efforts across sectors.
“The Philippines’ destiny largely is on our awareness of our blue water economy potential, how important we are to international trade and commerce because of our seafarers, and the potentials that remain untapped – our shipbuilding industry, higher technology, and development in marine and other marine biology sciences,” he explained. “That, to me, in a country which is 80% water and 20% land, is the obvious way to go for all of us.”
According to the DND Secretary, Cebu City Council’s resolution, authored by Councilor Paul Labra, declaring WPS Victory Day showed awareness of the importance to uphold our rights in the maritime domain as accorded by international law.
“We need to converge to enforce [the 2016 Arbitral Award and UNCLOS], and that is to prevent any further distortions, encroachments, and bullying by China by strengthening our deterrent capabilities in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and, secondly, through principled diplomacy,” said Secretary Teodoro.
However, the Secretary stressed, to achieve credible deterrence, internal peace, stability, and security must be ensured so that resources may be devoted to external defense.
“[E]qually important… is the internal resilience that we need to have to prevent the United Front Works and other foreign influence and malign influence activities from weakening our society, weakening our economy, and preventing us from being a strong economy, which can stand up and be more sustainable and more reliable,” he added. “Thus, the convergence is important, both internally and externally.”
In the spirit of the protecting the nation’s patrimony as a maritime nation, Secretary Teodoro reaffirmed that the DND, through the AFP, will continue to support Cebu in protecting the Visayan Sea to preserve its marine biodiversity, and Cebu’s livelihood and economic development.
“I reiterate once again, the declaration by the City Council of Cebu of West Philippine Sea Victory Day from Central Philippines is a very powerful message of connection, convergence, and oneness in our fight for our maritime sovereignty and national dignity,” said the defense chief. | Department of National Defense
About the Author
