Manila, Feb. 18 -- Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela on Tuesday denied branding Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta a "traitor" following the lawmaker's claim that there is no such thing as a West Philippine Sea (WPS), only the South China Sea.

The PCG official made this clarification during the hearing of the House Tri Committee when Marcoleta lamented that he was being branded a traitor by social media users because of Tariella's statements.

On Feb. 4, Marcoleta said the term "WPS" is not present on any maps and has not yet been registered internationally.

"I did not use the word traitor in describing your statement describing that the WPS ay kathang isip lamang po (is ju...