Osmeña says Archival is ‘playing it safe’ on West Philippine Sea issue

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña on Monday criticized Mayor Nestor Archival for taking what he described as a “cautious” stance on the West Philippine Sea issue.

Osmeña said the city should firmly defend Philippine sovereignty amid China’s diplomatic protest over Cebu City’s observance of “West Philippine Sea Victory Day.”

The criticism came as Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro visited Cebu City Hall for the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the landmark arbitral ruling, where he praised the Cebu City Council for standing its ground despite China’s diplomatic protest.

READ: Cebu City backs observance of ‘WPS victory day’ on July 12

The issue has placed the city’s leadership under the spotlight after Archival earlier said he would first review the Chinese Consulate’s diplomatic note before issuing an official response, while stressing his administration’s desire to maintain “good relations” with everyone.

Since then, the diplomatic dispute has drawn reactions from national officials, maritime experts, and local leaders.

READ: Archival reviews China protest, seeks good ties amid WPS dispute

Consequently, the local government’s resolution has become part of a broader national conversation on defending Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.

Osmeña said he fully supported the City Council’s decision to commemorate the arbitral victory and lamented what he viewed as the mayor’s reluctance to take a stronger position.

READ: AFP seeks broader LGU support for July 12 West PH Sea Victory Day

“I’m very proud of the City Council. Unfortunately, our mayor’s playing it safe. Doesn’t like to be here. Doesn’t like to be identified. I’m not that kind. I take a stand,” Osmeña said.

“We have to protect our own, and we have to be very careful that opportunities are not exploited to take advantage of our tolerance. So I’m not tolerating anything,” he added.

READ: Maritime experts challenge China’s protest over Cebu City WPS resolution

Osmeña also revealed that he has long refused invitations from the Chinese Consulate in Cebu as part of his personal protest against what he described as Beijing’s treatment of Philippine officials.

“My office ignores the consulate here in Cebu. They invite me, and I never say yes. I’m always ‘not available’ because I want to make that statement very clear,” he said.

CDN Digital reached out to Archival for comment, but has not received a response as of publication time.

‘We’re not scared of anyone’

Osmeña recalled an incident during his previous term as mayor involving Taiwan’s National Day celebration, commonly known as “Double Ten.”

He said he attended the event after reviving Cebu City’s sister-city relationship with Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where he emphasized that the partnership focused solely on ties between the two cities.

According to Osmeña, the Chinese Consulate later sent him a letter warning him against attending the celebration because it allegedly violated Beijing’s One China policy.

“I said, ‘Actually, tapos na (it’s already over).’ So I threw the letter in the wastebasket,” he recounted.

He said the consulate later sent another letter criticizing his attendance.

“And ever since that time, when I saw the consul, I said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you. You just stay over there.’ I put the Chinese consul on our blacklist. I never invited them to Charter Day. Bahala na sila (Let them be),” Osmeña said.

“They treat us as if we’re supposed to be scared of them. We’re not scared of anyone. We don’t look down at them; they should not look down at us.”

He added that the City Council deserved recognition for approving the resolution.

“I’m very proud of the City Council when they took that stand through the initiative of Councilor Paul Labra,” he said.

Teodoro backs Cebu

Speaking separately after attending the flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, Defense Secretary Teodoro welcomed Cebu City’s observance of the anniversary of the 2016 arbitral ruling.

He said the city’s action helped reinforce public awareness of the importance of protecting the country’s maritime rights.

“Para sa akin, resonating from the center of the Philippines, nagbibigay ito ng magandang mensahe (For me, resonating from the center of the Philippines, it sends a good message),” Teodoro said.

He stressed that failing to defend the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea could have broader implications beyond maritime claims.

“Hindi lang West Philippine Sea ang importante. Kapag hindi natin ipinaglaban ang West Philippine Sea, baka may mawala pa. Baka ang susunod na kuwestyunin ay ang archipelagic doctrine (The West Philippine Sea is not the only issue that matters. If we fail to defend it, we may lose even more. The next thing they may question is the archipelagic doctrine),” he said.

Teodoro also commended Cebu City’s response to the diplomatic protest.

“Nakakataba ng puso na Cebu stood up in the face of a direct, I’d say, provocation by foreign officials here, and they stood their ground. That’s admirable (It is heartening that Cebu stood up in the face of what I would call a direct provocation by foreign officials here, and they stood their ground. That’s admirable),” he said.

Archival’s earlier position

Earlier, Archival said he would first review the documents forwarded to his office before commenting on the Chinese Consulate’s protest against the City Council resolution.

“Sa pagkakaron, akong buhaton atong tan-awon unsa ning mga documents nga niabot sa office, and I will look into that (For now, I will review the documents that have reached my office and look into them),” Archival told reporters.

He also said he wanted to understand the substance of the resolution before issuing any official position.

“At the moment, I cannot comment on that until makita nako unsa gyud ang meat sa resolution (At the moment, I cannot comment until I see the substance of the resolution),” he said.

Despite withholding comment on the diplomatic protest, Archival emphasized that his administration wanted to maintain cordial relations.

“But ang ako lang, we’d like to maintain a good relation with everybody (For me, we’d like to maintain good relations with everybody),” he said.

The controversy began after the Chinese Consulate General in Cebu formally protested the City Council resolution declaring July 12 as “West Philippine Sea Victory Day.”

Authored by Councilor Paul Labra, the resolution commemorates the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Beyond establishing a local observance, the resolution also urges Congress to institutionalize July 12 as a nationwide “West Philippine Sea Victory Day.”

The Chinese Consulate maintains that the arbitral ruling remains “illegal, null and void,” a position rejected by the Philippine government, maritime law experts and several national officials, who continue to recognize the 2016 award as final and legally binding under international law.

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