MANILA: A lawmaker on Tuesday urged the public to support President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s firm stance to defend the country's sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). In a press conference, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that in light of the recent attack of China's coast guard against two Philippine vessels, everyone should be supporting President Marcos's stance against Chinese aggression. 'We should support the President. Because bullying tactics, a strategy like that, should be countered with a strong opposition and the President has taken that. Kasi pinaglalaban ng Presidente (What the President is fighting for) is not to encroach on anybody's territory; the President does not want to encroach the territory of any other country,' Adiong said. China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, including territories in the WPS that are well within Manila's exclusive economic zone. Adiong, however, pointed out that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ruled against Chi na's sweeping historical claims to the waterway. 'But we are merely protecting ours na hindi naman natin kini-claim (that we are not just claiming) randomly or without any basis at all but this is supported by the decision of the UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Arbitral Tribunal]. So, I guess, 'yung mga ganyang strategy (in such strategies), they want to portray to the whole world that they're a superpower and that's why they can step on us anytime they want,' he said. 'And that's a basic definition of a bully. Ang dapat na sagot sa isang pagsisindak ay hindi dapat defeatist ang attitude. Dapat tumindig, (The answer to intimidation is not a defeatist attitude. We need to stand firm) and the President is standing on a very legitimate position, and we need to support him on that," he added. The Philippines' tough stand against China is one of the reasons why the President was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by the 99-year-old American publication Time Magazine. Source: Philippines News Agency