Standing before a gathering of youth delegates, government officials, and civil society advocates, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. delivered a pointed challenge to the next generation: the future of the Philippines' vast maritime domain rests, in large part, on whether young Filipinos are willing to fight for it. His remarks came during the launch of the Bantay Dagat Youth Ambassadors – West Philippine Sea Edition Caravan, held on August 28, 2026, at San Juan City.
The event was organized as part of the multi-stakeholder forum titled "Safeguarding Our Seas: National Duty and Community Leadership in the West Philippine Sea," a joint undertaking of the Rotary Club of Chinatown Circle and the Philippine Navy, according to the Department of National Defense (DND).
A Nation That Is Mostly Ocean
Secretary Teodoro opened his address by grounding the conversation in a geographic reality that many Filipinos overlook. The Philippines, he reminded attendees, is not primarily a land nation — its territory is composed of roughly 80 percent water and only 20 percent land, encompassing a maritime domain that stretches across approximately 2.4 million square kilometers. That figure dwarfs the country's total land area by a wide margin.
"Because all the resources, whether in the West Philippine Sea, in the internal waters, in the Pacific Ocean side of the Philippines, are sources of potential sustenance, energy for future generations," Teodoro said, as cited in a DND readout of his remarks.
The Defense Secretary further noted that the Philippines' maritime interests are not confined to the West Philippine Sea alone. He pointed to the Philippine Rise and other strategically significant bodies of water as areas rich in fisheries and energy reserves that will become increasingly valuable as global populations grow and natural resources dwindle.
International Law as the Foundation
Teodoro reaffirmed the Philippines' unwavering commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the landmark 2016 Arbitral Award as the legal pillars supporting the country's maritime entitlements and sovereign rights. The Defense Secretary framed adherence to these frameworks not merely as a legal obligation but as an active posture of defense.
"We need to push back and we need to fight for a proper interpretation of international law," Teodoro said, according to the DND statement. He was careful to characterize the country's growing web of defense alliances not as aggression but as a collective, principled effort to protect shared maritime supply chains from what he described as expansionism by foreign actors.
He also cited ongoing investments in military modernization, strategic infrastructure, and the deepening of partnerships with countries that share the Philippines' security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region.
New Defense Pacts Take Shape
Among the more concrete disclosures at the forum, Secretary Teodoro provided updates on the Philippines' expanding network of Status of Visiting Forces Agreements, or SOVFAs. The DND confirmed that the agreements with Canada and New Zealand have already entered into force. The SOVFA with France is currently awaiting concurrence from the Philippine Senate, while the Philippines has initiated its first round of formal negotiations with the United Kingdom on a similar agreement.
"You can see that these alliances are for shared interests," Teodoro said. "That is to secure the maritime domain for the supply chains of like-minded countries who feel threatened by expansionism in their own borders."
The quartet of defense agreements — two active, one in the Senate pipeline, and one in early talks — reflects what Teodoro described as a measured but deliberate expansion of the Philippines' multilateral security posture.
The Youth Called to Active Stewardship
Turning directly to the young ambassadors in the audience, Teodoro reframed maritime awareness as something far weightier than a civics lesson. He described it as a generational obligation — an active responsibility to ensure that the resources lying within Philippine waters are not seized by foreign interests before future Filipinos have the chance to benefit from them.
"As populations expand in the world, as resources grow more scarce, as needs grow more scarce, there is a temptation to expand and that we cannot allow for your sake in the future," he told the youth delegates, according to the DND.
"You cannot stop the growth of human beings, the growth of society... But what you can stop is somebody else taking what should be yours to support yourself and giving it to somebody else," the Secretary added.
He closed his message to the youth with a rallying call for conviction: "Be convinced that what you're doing is important." Teodoro urged them to help build a nation that is strong, self-assured, and proudly protective of its Filipino identity and heritage.
Wide Coalition of Officials Attends
The August 28 forum attracted a notable cross-section of senior government officials alongside the youth advocates and civil society partners. National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Oban Jr. was in attendance, as were Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director Benjamin Acorda Jr. and National Security Council Deputy Director Nestor Herico.
The Philippine Coast Guard was represented by Rear Admiral Jay Tristan Tarriela, its spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines sent Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the AFP's own West Philippine Sea spokesperson, according to the DND. Officers from the Rotary Club of Chinatown Circle and youth advocacy groups rounded out the attendee list.
By the Numbers
- 2.4 million square kilometers — the Philippines' total maritime domain
- 80% — the share of Philippine territory that is water
- 20% — the share that is land
- 2 — SOVFAs already in force (Canada and New Zealand)
- 1 — SOVFA pending Senate concurrence (France)
- 1 — SOVFA in first-round formal negotiations (United Kingdom)
- 2016 — year of the Arbitral Award cited as legal basis for Philippine maritime entitlements
Why This Matters
The Bantay Dagat Youth Ambassadors caravan represents a deliberate government strategy to push maritime sovereignty advocacy beyond formal defense channels and into the hands of the next generation, institutionalizing awareness at the grassroots level. Secretary Teodoro's confirmation that two SOVFAs are already in force and that negotiations with two additional nations are underway signals a meaningful expansion of the Philippines' multilateral security architecture in the Indo-Pacific. Given that the country's 2.4-million-square-kilometer maritime domain holds critical fisheries, energy resources, and vital sea lanes, cultivating informed and engaged youth advocates is framed as an essential long-term investment in national resilience.
Source: Department of National Defense (DND Philippines)