Manila, March 16 -- The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reiterated on Monday the Philippines' longstanding sovereignty over Bajo de Masinloc and Kalayaan Island Group.

"The Philippines flatly rejects China's assertion of indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. This claim has no basis in fact, no basis in history, and no basis in international law," DFA Maritime Affairs spokesperson Rogelio Villanueva Jr. said in a press briefing.

His statement comes as a response to the Chinese Embassy's statement issued last March 14, citing an alleged letter from former Philippine Ambassador to Germany Bienvenido Tan to a German HAM radio operator Dieter Loffler.

The letter apparently claimed that Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough...