The Philippine government’s transparency initiative in the West Philippine Sea has transformed a once “abstract” territorial dispute into one backed by documented evidence.
Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said it strengthening both public support and the country’s diplomatic position against China, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela said Friday.
During the National West Philippine Sea Summit, Tarriela said the initiative, launched three years ago, has exposed China’s actions at sea through videos, photographs, and firsthand documentation rather than government messaging.
“Over the past three years since we launched the transparency initiative in the West Philippine Sea, we have gathered more than enough evidence of how the Chinese government behaves,” Tarriela said.
He said incidents involving Filipino fishermen and government vessels previously received little public attention.
“Before the transparency initiative, these incidents happened in the dark. Our fishermen were harassed… and most Filipinos never saw it,” he said.
“The West Philippine Sea was an abstraction—a legal dispute argued only by lawyers, a security matter handled by men in uniform, a diplomatic file managed in quiet rooms. Transparency changed that.”
Tarriela said the government’s approach has allowed Filipinos to judge China’s actions based on documented evidence.
“We did not ask Filipinos to take the government’s word for anything. We showed them the laser, the water cannoning, the bladed weapon, the ramming, and they drew their own conclusion,” he said.
“Our consensus rests on evidence and on law, not on propaganda.”
He cited several incidents documented under the initiative, including the use of a military-grade laser against a Philippine Coast Guard vessel in 2023, the June 2024 confrontation in which Chinese Coast Guard personnel carrying bladed weapons blocked Philippine resupply boats, and water cannon attacks against Filipino fishermen near Escoda Shoal.
Tarriela rejected claims that the transparency initiative has heightened tensions in the West Philippine Sea, arguing that public disclosure has instead reinforced the Philippines’ diplomatic efforts.
“I would like to argue that transparency actually complements diplomacy,” he said.
“When you go to a negotiating table, you already have the evidence that it is China who violates international law, and it makes it easier… to get the support of our like-minded states,” he added.
“We’re not the one escalating the tension. We’re just telling the world what is happening,” he stressed.
Former presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas echoed the view, saying the initiative has strengthened both domestic and international support for the Philippines.
“Transparency has been very important in galvanizing Filipinos in having a new kind of patriotism,” Llamas said.
He added that transparency “enables us to consolidate with the world against this invader. If we take that out, then what sympathy can we get from the world?”
The panel discussion was part of the National West Philippine Sea Summit marking the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award, which invalidated China’s expansive maritime claims and affirmed the Philippines’ rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
