Qualla: Philippines and the Spratly Islands

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)., Public domain. In May 1956, Tomas Cloma sailed into the South China Sea with his brothers and a crew of forty. A fishing vessel owner and director of the Philippine Maritime Institute, Cloma had no army behind him, no government mandate, and no legal precedent for what he was about to do. Finding the scattered islands unoccupied, he planted a flag, declared a new municipality called Kalayaan, meaning "freedom," and sent a notice to the world. The Philippine government initially distanced itself from Cloma's claim. Decades later, it would adopt his vision almost entirely.

Image: National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). | Public domain

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: A Map from 1734

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CIA. Cropped and Flags added by Estarapapax., Public domain. The Philippines traces its historical connection to the Spratly Islands back further than Cloma's adventure. In 1734, the Spanish colonial government published the Velarde map, which detailed the territories under full sovereign control of Spanish Philippines. The map included Sc...

Image: CIA. Cropped and Flags added by Estarapapax. | Public domain

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: Eleven Outposts in a Vast Sea

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Yuje at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Today the Philippines occupies and controls eleven features in the Spratlys: eight islands and three reefs. By comparison, Vietnam holds six islands, seventeen reefs, and three banks. China controls seven reefs it has transformed into artificial islands. Taiwan administers the la...

Image: Yuje at English Wikipedia | Public domain

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: The Hague Ruling

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)., Public domain. In January 2013, the Philippines took a step no other Spratly claimant had attempted: it initiated formal arbitration proceedings against China's nine-dash line claim under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The case was heard by a tribunal constituted under Ann...

Image: National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). | Public domain

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: Fishermen and Confrontations

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Roel Balingit (username: Namayan); addition of Benham Rise and Indo-PH EEZs: Ervin Malicdem (schadow1), CC BY 2.5. Beyond the legal arguments, the dispute plays out daily on the water. Chinese fishing vessels operate throughout the South China Sea, some entering what the Philippines considers its internal waters in the Sulu Sea. The Philippines generally tolerates Chinese fishing in contested...

Image: Roel Balingit (username: Namayan); addition of Benham Rise and Indo-PH EEZs: Ervin Malicdem (schadow1) | CC BY 2.5

Philippines and the Spratly Islands: A Question Still Open

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)., Public domain. The Philippines' position in the Spratly Islands sits at the intersection of international law, military reality, and the daily lives of Filipino fishermen and soldiers stationed on remote outposts. From Tomas Cloma's impulsive flag-planting to the landmark 2016 arbitration rulin...

Image: National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). | Public domain