THE Senate has appointed Senator Francis Tolentino to lead a special committee that will exclusively focus on measures in connection with the country’s maritime and admiralty zones.

This after the Senate adopted Resolution No. 718 strongly condemning the continued harassment of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea by the Chinese Coast Guard and militia vessels and the persistent incursions of China into Philippine territory.

In yesterday’s plenary session, Majority Floor Leader Joel Villanueva moved for the election of Tolentino as new chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones.

It was Tolentino who proposed the creation of the said newly made Senate panel last week following the initial referral of the proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act under House Bill No. 7819 to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Tolentino earlier explained that since the Senate is expected to hear and tackle several proposed maritime legislations that will be filed this 19th Congress, the Senate leadership should then consider the creation of a special committee on admiralty matters “to hear and sponsor all measures related to maritime zone bills as well as the baseline acts.”

Tolentino will be joined in the newly created committee by Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa, Robin Padilla, Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, and Risa Hontiveros.

Resolution No. 718 , principally authored by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Senator Risa Hontiveros, urged the Philippine government to take appropriate action in “asserting and securing the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.”

The resolution, Zubiri said, embodies the sentiment of senators who were in consultations yesterday with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We came out with strong consensus yesterday after the discussions with the West Philippine Sea Task Force, together with the AFP Chief-of-Staff General (Romeo) Brawner and DFA Secretary (Enrique) Manalo. And actually, we never watered down the resolution that we filed, we actually strengthened the first resolution that we initially filed with Sen. Risa,” said Zubiri.

Last week, Resolution No. 659 authored by Hontiveros was filed and sponsored on the floor by Zubiri, urging the DFA to sponsor a resolution before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), calling on China to stop its harassment of Philippine vessels in the WPS.

The adopted Resolution No. 718 enumerates the reasons China’s continued incursions in the WPS remain illegal, starting with its violation of the 2016 landmark ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which held that there was “no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line” and that China’s claims ran contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“Rather than comply with the decision, the Chinese government has instead chosen to ramp up its harassment of Philippine vessels, including those of the country’s fisherfolk, navy, and coast guard, thus undermining peace and stability in the region,” the resolution read.

“In clear violation of the Arbitral Award, China has built artificial islands in various parts of the WPS – fortified with airstrips, military installations, hardware and equipment-and has militarized at least three of those artificial islands, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets,” it added.