Manila, May 23 -- Amid escalating Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez told the world's lawmakers in Madrid, Spain that the Philippines will defend its sovereign rights through the force of international law and the unity of democratic nations.

Speaking at the 29th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF) Thursday (Manila time), Romualdez reaffirmed the Philippines' unwavering commitment to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award that categorically recognized the country's sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and rejected China's sweeping maritime claims.

"Let me be clear: the Philippines remains steadfast in prot...