Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.
The maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago are hereby named as the West Philippine Sea. These areas include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around within the adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal. (Ref. Wikipedia)
The topic over the country's claim on the West Philippine Sea is rising hotly through out the country after the president declared that he can not do anything and is not willing to engage in a fight with China over it. The president stated that China is claiming the territory and China has the arms whereas Philippines don't have it.
Looking at the president's point of view, his supporters think that he is not willing to challenge China with its claim because he knows that when it comes to force of arms, Philippines is on the losing end. This could mean chaos in the country, bloodshed, death, hunger and economic collapse. This situation would be an additional burden to the Philippines on top of the Corona Virus Pandemic wherein the country has incurred massive debts and is currently buried to the neck.
The Filipino people once again, is divided. Many are angry with the president's stand. They feel that he is not brave enough and is actually in agreement with China. Many also believes that the President is selling the country to the Chinese government, citing as examples the way Chinese people are given the freedom to do whatever they please in the country plus the fact that there is an ongoing construction of China's artificial base in Spratly Islands.
The ocean and seas basically provides livelihood to the Filipinos living along the coasts. It also serves as a gateway to ships who traverses the waters to bring cargo to other parts of the world. Our country is beautiful. One of the richest when it comes to natural resources. It is also strategically located as it faces the largest ocean in the world and is backed by neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
What's happening right now is totally sad and depressing. Seeing an uncertain future as a Filipino, my heart bleeds for the country. My heart aches for the freedom, for the success and for the pride that we could have for our country... The PEARL OF THE ORIENT SEAS....