FILE - A Philippine flag flutters from BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated Philippine Navy ship that has been aground since 1999 and became a Philippine military detachment on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 29, 2014.

Philippine President Marcos passed two maritime laws last week in a move that Manila says will strengthen its sovereignty over waters within the country’s archipelago and the South China Sea. Using standards set forth by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),

The Philippines has protested China’s baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as tensions between the two nations build up anew over their competing claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines' foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, November 13, to protest against Beijing's establishment of baseline coordinates around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea,

China declared its maritime baselines around Scarborough Shoal after the Philippines passed laws defining its maritime zones and sea lanes last week.