Screenshot from Philippine Coast Guard footage.
Manuel Mogato | September 12, 2026
MANILA — The Philippines’ foreign ministry demanded that China cease its “illegal occupation” of two disputed features in the South China Sea, insisting on sovereignty and sovereign rights in the area.
Rogelio Villanueva Jr., Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman for maritime affairs, in a statement said Mischief Reef, known locally as Panganiban Reef, and the Subi Reef, or the Zamora Reef, are within the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“We call on China to cease its illegal occupation and activities in Panganiban Reef and Zamora Reef immediately, and to abide by the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award,” Villanueva said. (Also read: Philippines still seeks diplomatic route over South China Sea conflict)
“The Department will continue to assert the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, and champion the Philippines’ legitimate rights and interests in its maritime domain before the international community.”
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a strategic sea lane where $3 trillion worth of seaborne trade passes annually.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam also have conflicting claims on the volatile area believed to have rich deposits of energy and mineral resources.
Tensions in the South China Sea have risen as China intensifies its presence and activities. It used to employ gray zone tactics but has increasingly used naval warships and fighters to assert its claims in the area.
The United States and like-minded states, such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and New Zealand, have also challenged China’s sovereignty claims by stepping up freedom of navigation patrols (FONOPs) and overflights in the South China Sea.
Villanueva said Mischief Reef is not land territory that can be the subject of a sovereign claim, and it is, therefore, incapable of appropriation under international law. (Also read: Philippines rejects China’s protest on construction activities in South China Sea)
Meanwhile, Subi or Zamora Reef is another low-tide elevation, located within the territorial sea of Pag-asa, and remains subject to Philippine sovereignty.
China has been occupying both Mischief and Subi Reefs for decades, transforming them into artificial islands and militarizing them with missiles, airstrips, and naval bases.
When China seized Mischief Reef in 1995, a few years after the United States abandoned its two large military bases in Subic and Clark, it said it would be only a temporary fishermen’s shelter, but slowly transformed it into a garrison.
“China’s island-building activities on both reefs violate the Philippine Maritime Zones Act (Republic Act 12064), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” Villanuevasaid.
“Such illegal activities of China do not in any way change the legal status of Mischief Reef and Subi Reef as low-tide elevations.”
