Manila: The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has formally endorsed the adoption of Philippine names for 131 features of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) Outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo announced that he officially signed the National Maritime Council (NMC) Resolution No. 002 (2025), recommending the adoption of the 'standard set of Philippine names for 131 features of the KIG.'
According to Philippines News Agency, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza explained that the resolution is a recommendation to the President to standardize the Filipino names of the 131 features in the Kalayaan Island Group through an Executive Order. Daza emphasized that this move will help demonstrate the Philippines' right to name such features within its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Daza stated that this initiative would formalize the adoption of these names by government agencies and serves to implement further the 2024 Philippine Maritime Zones Act. The Kalayaan Island Group is located in the West Philippine Sea and is part of an archipelago of islets, sandbars, atolls, reefs, shoals, and cays known internationally as the Spratly Islands in the wider South China Sea.
