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No South China Sea? Calls grow for Philippines to include maritime history in curriculum
- The calls come before the new education minister takes office amid rising tensions between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea
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The Philippines should incorporate discussions on maritime territory into its national history curriculum, a former chief justice said, ahead of the new education minister taking office.
Former judge Antonio Carpio said educating Filipinos on issues such as the ruling in Manila’s favour by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016 could help the Philippines win the fight against Beijing’s claims in the entire South China Sea.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr last week appointed Senator Sonny Angara as the next education secretary after Vice-President Sara Duterte quit the portfolio. Angara will assume his new role on July 19.
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Carpio on Tuesday warned in an ABS-CBN interview that a lack of historical knowledge on treaties signed by former colonial rulers of the Philippines could be a problem, arguing that it “should be included in the new curriculum”.
He also questioned the origin of the South China Sea name, insisting the Chinese previously only called it the “South Sea” in colonial times and “the Portuguese called it the South China Sea to distinguish it from the East China Sea”.
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Congresswoman Margarita Nograles, the representative of Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) on Sunday recommended that Angara include in the curriculum Manila’s claim to the West Philippine Sea, its name for a part of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone.
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