ARTICLE 1

NATIONAL TERRITORY

NAMES GIVEN
Las Islas Felipinas
name given by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1543 in honor of the Prince Felipe of Asturias (Samar, Leyte)
The Philippine Islands
Republic of the Philippines
other names
Ma-yi/Mai – based on document of Chau-Ju-Kua (Sung Dynasty 3rd c BC)
Archipielago de San Lazaro – given by Fernando Magallanes in 1521
other proposed names
Republic of Rizal (Artemio Ricarte)
Maharlika(Ferdinand Marcos)

NATIONAL TERRITORY AND MARITIME JURSIDICTION

1935 PROVISION
The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris concluded with Spain on the
tenth day of December eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article II of said treaty,
together with all the islands embraced in the treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and Spain on
the seventh day of November, nineteen hundred, and in the treaty concluded between the United States and Great
Britain on the second day of January, nineteen hundred thirty, and all territory over which the present Government of the
Philippine Islands exercises jurisdiction.

LEGAL BASES
Treaty of Paris (December 10, 1898)
Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao
Washington Agreement (November 7, 1900)
Sibutu islands
Agreement between United States and Great Britain (July 2,1930)
Turtle and Mangsee Islands

1973 PROVISION
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and the waters embraced therein and all
the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title, including the territorial sea, the air space,
the subsoil, the seabed, the insular shelves, and the other submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction. The waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

OTHER LEGAL BASES

1. P.D. No. 1596 (June 11, 1978)
Declaring Certain Area Part Of The Philippine Territory And Providing For Their Government And Administration
by reason of their proximity the cluster of islands and islets in the South China Sea situated within the following…
2. P.D. No. 1599 (June 11, 1978)
Establishing An Exclusive Economic Zone And For Other Purposes
an exclusive economic zone extending to a distance of two hundred nautical miles from the baselines from which the
territorial sea is measured is vital to the economic survival and development of the Republic of the Philippines

1987 PROVISION
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all
other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial
domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters
around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of
the internal waters of the Philippines.

TERRITORY
1. Philippine archipelago
archipelago – Greek word “pelagos” meaning sea; a sea or part of a sea studded with islands
includes both sea and islands, considered as an independent whole

7641 islands (NAMRIA - National Mapping and Resource Information Authority) from previous 7107
Y’ami/Mavulis (Batanes) - northernmost
Salauag (Tawi-tawi) - southernmost
 three main island group
Luzon
Visayas
Mindanao
land area: 300,000 km2
land and water:1,800,000 km2

2. other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction

originally written as “all other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title” which refers
to Sabah, Kalayaan Island Group, Marianas Islands including Guam
deletion does not preclude future claims, only to improve our relations with Malaysia

3. other areas
territorial sea – part of sea extending 12 nautical miles from the low watermark
seabed – land that hold the sea, including mineral and natural resources
subsoil – everything beneath the surface soil and seabed, including minerals and natural resources
insular shelves – submerged portions of the continent which slope gently seaward
other submarine areas – all other areas under the territorial sea (seamount, trough, trench, basin, deep, bank,
shoal, reef)

TYPES OF NAVIGABLE WATER

1. inland or internal waters – parts of sea within land territory, also called national waters (rivers, canals, lakes)
2. territorial sea – belt of water outside and parallel to the coastline
3. high or open seas – water that lie seaward of the territorial sea

internal waters + territorial sea = territorial waters over which the state has sovereignty
open seas – international waters not subject to sovereignty of any state, every state has equal right to use

ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
an exception to the 12-mile rule (previously 3-mile rule)
waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions
form part of the internal water of the Philippines

LEGAL BASES
Republic Act No. 8550 (The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998)
February 25, 1998
Section 87. Poaching in Philippine Waters. - unlawful for any foreign person, corporation or entity to fish or
operate any fishing vessel in Philippine waters
entry of any foreign fishing vessel in Philippine waters shall constitute a prima facie evidence that the vessel is
engaged in fishing in Philippine waters
violation of the above shall be punished by a fine of one hundred thousand U.S. Dollars (US$100,000.00), in
addition to the confiscation of its catch, fishing equipment and fishing vessel

Republic Act No. 9522

Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law
as response to the deadline set by UNCLOS in March 13, 2009
changes the baseline of the Philippines as an archipelago that excludes the Kalayaan Island Group and
Scarborough Shoal / Bajo de Masinloc (now considered as a regime of islands)

Administrative Order No. 29

September 5, 2012
renaming of maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago as the West Philippine Sea
include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De
Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal

INTERNATIONAL LAWS
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas)
came into force in 1994
internal waters
territorial waters (12 nautical miles) - coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource, foreign
vessels given the right of innocent passage (fishing, polluting, weapons practice, and spying not considered
"innocent“)
 contiguous zone (24 nautical miles) - a state can continue to enforce laws in four specific areas: customs, taxation,
immigration and pollution, if the infringement started within the state's territory or territorial waters, or if this
infringement is about to occur within the state's territory or territorial waters (hot pursuit area)
exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles) - the coastal nation has sole exploitation rights over all natural
resources

Permanent Court of Arbitration Ruling

July 12, 2016
the so-called "9-dash line" is invalid
reclaimed islands have no exclusive economic zone
China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone
Beijing has damaged the coral reef system environment
island building should have stopped during the dispute process

PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

West Philippine Sea
main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans
enormous trade and military value
major unexploited oil and gas deposits believed to lie under the seabed
home to some of the world's biggest coral reefs and marine life
China and Taiwan both claim nearly all of the sea, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each have
overlapping claims to parts of it
Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague arbitral tribunal has ruled in our favor against China (July 2016)

Kalayaan Islands Group

chain of more than 100 islands in the South China Sea
claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines
believed to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves aside from fishery resources
claimed to have been “discovered” by Tomas Cloma (fishing magnate and founder of a nautical school) in 1947,
and occupied as private property calling it the Freedomland Archipelago
driven out by Vietnam
formally claimed by the Philippines in 1970, placed troops and built an airstrip on the biggest island, Pag-asa
President Marcos issued PD 1596 in June 11, 1978 declaring the Kalayaan Islands Group as part of Philippine
territory as a municipality of Palawan
in 1991, China formally claimed the whole of China Sea
in 1995, claimant countries agreed to stop all activities in Spratlys but China built military structures on Mischief
Reef , one of the islands being claimed by the Philippines as Panganiban Reef
China refuses to resolve the dispute on a multi-lateral basis, preferring bilateral negotiations
presently, the Philippines occupies eight islands

Panatag Shoal
Panacot Island / Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal
2012 – standoff between Philippine Navy and Chinese Navy after spotting Chinese fishing vessels illegally
harvesting endangered species. China blocks Filipino ships from the shoal
2014 – Chinese Coast Guard fires water cannon at Filipino fishermen
2016 – National security Council released reports of harassment done by Chinese Coast Guard. Asia Maritime
Transparency Initiative releases images of Scarborough Shoal showing Chinese blockades at mouth of the lagoon
2018 – reports of Chinese Coast Guard taking the catch of Filipino fishermen, in exchange for mineral water,
cigarettes, packs of noodles. Journalists barred from taking videos of Panatag Shoal by Chinese Coast Guard
2019 – Philippine Coast Guard reports of spotting a Chinese warship, militia boats in Scarborough Shoal

Sabah
1704 – given by Sultan of Brunei as gift to Sultan of Sulu
1878 – leased to British North Borneo Company ($ 5000 Malaysian) in order to have additional funds needed to
sustain Muslim Wars
1946 – annexed by the British government
1962 – Sultan of Sulu transferred sovereign rights to the Philippine government
1963 – turned over by the British to the newly-formed Federation of Malaysia
1963 – President Macapagal declared Philippine sovereignty over Sabah
1963 - UN called for a plebiscite where people of Sabah voted to be with Malaysia
Benham Rise
13 million hectares underwater plateau
2000 to 5000 meters deep
rich source of natural gas and heavy metals
recognized by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) as part of the
Philippine continental shelf (April 2012)