Full coverage: South China Sea Is Indisputable Part of China

Philippine diplomats have urged President-elect Rodrigo Duterte's government to launch bilateral talks with China to settle the South China Sea territorial dispute.

Philippines' former foreign affairs undersecretary for international economic relations, Rosario Manalo, said everything can be resolved through bilateral negotiations. And he sees no need for the United States to join the negotiations because the US has no claims in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile,  former secretary-general of Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center  of the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department, Alberto Encomienda, says the Philippine government is responsible for raising tensions in the region.

Encomienda was a negotiator for The Philippine Foreign Affairs Department between 1995-2012. He said the department's claim that the Philippines conducted over 50 consultations and negotiations with China during that time are not true.  He also said China has repeatedly tried to get the Philippine government to sit down for negotiations. 

He added that it was the Philippines that first engaged in reclamation activities in the South China Sea, when they built airstrips on China's Zhongye Island.