The Philippines is not provoking conflict in the South China Sea, its military spokesperson said on Tuesday, responding to China's accusation that Manila was encroaching on Beijing's territory.
"The Philippines is not provoking conflict," Medel Aguilar told state broadcaster PTV.
"We follow international law and we are only implementing our domestic law, meaning the limits of our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, where we have sovereign rights."
Reuters reported that the comments came a day after the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote that the Philippines had relied on US support to continually provoke China.
This "extremely dangerous" behavior seriously harmed regional peace and stability, it added.
Aguilar said Philippine activities would not put vessels and seafarers in danger, instead accusing China of carrying out dangerous maneuvers that sometimes result in collisions at sea.
"They are the ones committing all the violations," he added.
It was the latest salvo amid rising tension as the two have traded accusations in recent months over a series of maritime run-ins, including China allegedly ramming a ship this month carrying the Philippines' military chief.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea with its so-called nine-dash line that overlaps the exclusive economic zones of rival claimants Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
A 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling invalidated China's claim in the strategic waters, which Beijing did not recognize
