Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. rejects China's accusation that the Philippines is stirring up trouble in the West Philippine Sea following its recently concluded joint maritime patrol with the American forces.

"Who is illegally occupying South China Sea, especially the West Philippine Sea? It is China. The Philippines is not stirring up trouble. This is a reverse of the truth. It's an absolute falsity for China to say that and it is once again reversing the truth consistent with its narrative," he said.

"The Philippines is not stirring up trouble as we always reiterate, our interests are to protect our rights in accordance with UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and international law which China purports to respect in words but unfortunately not in deeds and so whatever China says about this I think their credibility is very very low," he added.

In her statement, Senator Risa Hontiveros said that "it has always been China who stirs up trouble in the West Philippine Sea, not the Philippines."

"Our country should be free to patrol our waters with whomever we choose, whenever we want. This is our right as a sovereign nation. In fact, as an advocate of multilateralism in our foreign relations, I have long called for joint patrols with other nations, not just the US," she said.

"I would also welcome joint maritime exercises with our neighbors in Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, India, and other naval powers who are committed to a rules-based order in the West Philippine Sea and the entire South China Sea," she added.

The three-day joint patrol between the Philippines and the United States was just concluded on Thursday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military "consider the joint maritime and air patrol between the AFP and the US Indo-Pacific Command a success".

"We feel that we have met the objectives that we have set forth before the conduct of the joint maritime and air patrols and so we are confident that we are now more able to operate with our ally, the united states," he said.

Hontiveros said China wants to stop the Philippines from engaging with its allies "because she knows she cannot prevail against a coalition".

"If she has a problem with our presence in our own waters, she is more than welcome to leave," she said. Robina Asido/DMS