PRESIDENT Arroyo will sign the baseline bill into law despite protests from China, which says it owns parts of the Spratly Islands that the bill claims are part of Philippine territory, an official said yesterday.

The government would likely summon the Chinese Ambassador to Manila to explain that the bill did not violate the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, Foreign Affairs spokesman Bayani Mangibin said.

?The baseline bill is consistent with the China-Asean declaration on the South China Sea. It is our position that this bill should pass into law,? Mangibin said in a press conference in Malaca?ang.

?We are looking at that particular direction also [summoning Chinese Ambassador Song Tao]. That matter is being taken seriously. It is our hope that the bill will be respected.?

China on Wednesday slammed the Philippines for laying claim to parts of the disputed Spratlys, calling it a violation of Chinese sovereignty.

The baseline bill, passed on Tuesday, spells out the Philippines? claims in the South China Sea, whose islands are claimed in whole or in part by a host of Asian Nations. The legislation acknowledges rival claims.

Senators said the government should not be intimidated by China?s protest.

?We should do what we need [to do] to protect our territory. We should not surrender our claim only out of fear that China, Vietnam, Malaysia or any [other] country will retaliate,? Senator Mar Roxas said.

?The problem with China is it is making a lot of noise over its ownership claim. But we should not allow ourselves to be bullied by China just like that,? Senator Joker Arroyo said.

Rep. Antonio Cuenco said China should ?cool down? because all claims to the Spratlys would be settled by the International Court of Justice.

?They are our friends, [but] we will not be threatened by any country regarding the validity of our claim,? he said.

Mangibin said the Philippines classified the Kalayaan Island Group as ?a regime of islands under the Republic of the Philippines? because of its standing claim on the area, which is more commonly known as the Spratly Islands.

?We have expected this move from China and we are prepared to face this particular concern,? he said.

?We are claiming these islands, [and] that is why we considered them as a regime of islands under the Republic of the Philippines in our baseline bill.?

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Filipino soldiers were occupying at least nine islands on the Spratlys, and that one of those had already been declared a municipality of Palawan province. Joyce Pangco Pa?ares, Fel V. Maragay, Roy Pelovello