Senate urged: Strike out Marcoleta’s statement on giving up Kalayaan islands

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February 19, 2026 | 3:55pm

MANILA, Philippines — The local government unit (LGU) of the Kalayaan Island Group has written to Senate President Tito Sotto to expunge Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s "defeatist" remarks from the chamber’s records. 

Marcoleta had gotten into hot water after saying that the country should just give up the island group, saying that it is not worth the bloodshed in a territorial row—a statement that he has backpedaled on. 

The LGU drafted and passed a resolution expressing “vigorous indignation and formal protest” against the remarks made.

Sotto said that he has received the resolution and will study it first before making a move. 

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson expressed support for the said resolution. 

However, he explained that a formal motion needed to be made first to Sotto in his capacity as the chair of the Commission on Appointments (CA).

"A motion to strike off the records of the CA is needed. A letter addressed to CA Chairman Senate President Vicente Sotto III through the CA Defense Committee Chairman will serve as a strong basis for such a motion," Lacson said.

Lacson believed that leaving such defeatist remarks in the Senate records weakened the country’s standing in the West Philippine Sea territorial row. 

“I'd like to believe Marcoleta did not mean what he exactly said, but his 'give up' remarks are on the record. How else can we interpret his statements, other than to give up the Kalayaan Islands to avoid trouble with China?” Lacson said in a media interview.