evidence: The Spratly Islands are located in the so-called South China Sea and consist of a number of small islands, reefs, atolls and rocks. These islands have been disputed with varying degrees of intensity for more than 50 years. They continue to be a point of dispute between six different states to this day. The Spratly Islands are claimed in whole or part by The People’s Republic of China (PRC), The Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan), The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. [...] Much like the PRC, the Philippines also think that we can learn from the past. However, the Philippines, rather than believing in the lessons of history, believes that we can learn from past cases in international law. The Filipino discourse for example refers to the Palmas Island Case as a precedent to the Spratly one.[59] Hence, it is through international law rather than history that the Philippines knows that the Spratly Islands (i.e. the Kalayaan Group) belong to them. International law provides all the proof that is needed.