CHICKENPIEWe used to argue about who owns the West Philippine Sea. We've settled it. China owns it on Thursdays.
The Philippine Coast Guard issued an advisory on July 29. It asked seafarers and fishermen to avoid a portion of the country's exclusive economic zone off Northern Luzon. Reason: China is launching a Long March rocket. The debris falls on Thursday. The debris falls in our EEZ. The fishermen need to move.
This is not a metaphor. The PCG literally sent a notice that says: someone else's rocket is coming through your sea, please make way. And the fishermen — who fish there to eat, who have fished those waters for generations, who have been told for years that the West Philippine Sea is ours — they get a Notice to Mariners.
No formal diplomatic protest. No coast guard vessel sent to observe and document. No press conference. A notice.
China launches a rocket. Debris lands in Philippine waters. The Philippine response is: we will warn our fishermen.
There's a version of this story where the coast guard scrambles a vessel, the DFA files a note verbale, the President appears on camera and says something with teeth in it. That version is not this story. In this version, the PCG updates the maritime advisory database and we all move on by Friday.
The phrase "exclusive economic zone" has the word "exclusive" in it. Exclusive means nobody else's rocket debris gets to land there without consequence. We should write to whoever controls the dictionary and ask them to update the definition.
The West Philippine Sea isn't just about drilling rights or fishing areas. It's about who can make you step aside without asking. Today the answer is China. Thursdays, at minimum.
What our fishermen got this week was a PDF. Two pages. With coordinates.
We've been protecting Philippine sovereignty with paperwork for years. At some point, the paperwork became the strategy.
