Senator Loren Legarda on Tuesday advised Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta to pursue advanced studies in national security to deepen his understanding of issues surrounding the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and the Philippines’ maritime dispute with China.
Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, made the remark during a hearing on military modernization proposals.
“It’s never too late to take up GSC (general staff course). It’s never too late to take masters in national security maski batikan na abogado na kayo,” Legarda said.
The exchange followed Marcoleta’s criticism of Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, who earlier affirmed the role of Tomas Cloma in staking a claim over the KIG in 1956.
Marcoleta argued that Philippine sovereignty over the island group is grounded on effective control rather than Cloma’s actions.
“Pag-aari natin (ang KIG) simply because nandoon ang mga tao natin and we have effective control. Under public international law, kung sino ang may effective control, siya yung may-ari. That’s the status now,” Marcoleta said.
He also rejected Cloma’s involvement as a distortion of history.
“Huwag nating isasangkot si Tomas Cloma sa mga bagay na di para sa kanya… That was all wrong. That is historical distortion,” he added.
Legarda pushed back, asserting that Cloma’s role is supported by historical records and recalling her own interview with him during her journalism career.
“Why? Totoo naman yun ha. It’s a historical fact… I interviewed Tomas Cloma who discovered the Spratly Islands,” she said.
Marcoleta signaled openness to further studies but sought to exclude the Cloma issue from discussion—an idea Legarda dismissed.