Speaking at a panel discussion alongside China鈥檚 former foreign vice minister at this year鈥檚 Munich Security Conference, Foreign Affairs Secretary Manalo asserted that the Philippines is merely exercising its rights, in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), whenever it undertakes any kind of activity within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
鈥淏ut when another country, let鈥檚 say, applies its own domestic laws to certain areas within our (EEZ), then it really does create the kind of tension that we have been experiencing, especially over the last two years,鈥� Manalo said on Saturday during the forum that tackled maritime strains in the Indo-Pacific.
Motorists will have to pay more for petroleum products this week, with oil companies increasing the prices by almost P1 a liter for gasoline and diesel.
In separate advisories on Monday, Seaoil and Petro Gazz said gasoline and diesel prices would rise by 80 centavos per liter.
A minor phreatic eruption was recorded at Taal Volcano on Sunday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on Monday.
In a bulletin, Phivolcs said the four-minute eruption聽generated a 2,100-meter plume that drifted westward. The volcano emitted 407 metric tons of sulfur dioxide during the same monitoring period.