Philippines' president has rebuffed a call from Beijing to withdraw vessels from disputed areas.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte barred his cabinet from talking about the South China Sea in public on Monday after weeks of strong rebukes by his ministers against China’s conduct in the contested waters.

Tensions between the Philippines and its giant neighbour have escalated since March, with Manila filing daily diplomatic protests over the presence of hundreds of Communist China's fishing vessels in disputed portions of the South China Sea.

This is my order now to the cabinet, and to all and sundry talking for the government, to refrain from discussing the West Philippine Sea with anybody, Mr. Duterte said in a televised national address.

Manila refers to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.

If we talk, we talk but just among us, he said.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes each year. But in 2016, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that that claim, which Communist China bases on old maps, was inconsistent with international law.

Since taking office in 2016, Mr. Duterte has pursued warmer ties with Communist China, setting aside the territorial spat in exchange for Beijing’s promise of billions of dollars in loans, aid and investment, much of which are forthcoming.

Mr. Duterte’s defence and foreign ministers and his legal adviser have taken strong positions against Beijing over the presence of hundreds of Beijing's vessels within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines is convinced the Beijing's vessels are manned by militia, describing their presence as “swarming and threatening” as it continues to demand for the flotilla to be withdrawn immediately.