KALAYAAN ISLANDS PART OF RP TERRITORY UNDER PROPOSED FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
The Kalayaan Islands, part of the Spratly Islands whose ownership is being
claimed by several countries, are considered part of our national territory
under a set of amendments to the 1987 Constitution being proposed by
majority of the senators, the centerpiece of which is the adoption of a
federal system of government.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said
Joint Resolution 10 that he and 15 other senators have filed includes a new
paragraph in the Article on the National Territory that clearly asserts that
the Kalayaan Islands and the Scarborough Shoal belong to the Philippines.
However, Pimentel said the new paragraph does not specifically mention
Kalayaan Islands, Scarborough Shoal or even Sabah, which was annexed by
Malaysia despite ownership claim by the Sultanate of Sulu.
The new paragraph in the Article on National Territory reads: “The national
territory shall likewise include all islands occupied or claimed by the
Republic out of historic title, by discovery or other means recognized under
international law and its exclusive economic zone as defined by the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
Pimentel stressed the importance of asserting and pursuing the Philippine
claim of sovereignty over the Kalayaan Island, Scarborough Shoal and other
islets, reefs or shoals that are not clearly delineated to be within the
boundaries even of existing maps of the Republic.
“Moreover, we have not yet drawn up the metes and bounds of our exclusive
economic zone as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea,” the minority leader pointed out.
“One way of formally starting the laying of our claim over those islands,
islets, reefs or shoals is to define the national territory in the manner
stated in the proposed revision of Article 1 on the National Territory.”
The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, believed to have vast deposits
of oil, gas and other precious minerals, are being claimed by the
Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei. On the other hand, the
Scarborough Shoal, which is near the Luzon island, is being claimed by the
Philippines and China.
Pimentel has filed a bill which seeks to delineate the archipelagic
baselines of the Philippines which places the Kalayaan Islands and
Scarborough Shoal within the baselines, meaning they are part and parcel of
the national territory. This is in contrast to the stand of Malacañang that
Kalayaan Islands and Scarborough Shoal should be treated merely as a “regime
of islands” to which the Philippines has a standing territorial claim.
The senator from Mindanao said to treat Kalayaan Islands, which comprise a
municipality of Palawan province, and Scarborough Shoal, as just a “regime
of islands to which we have a standing territorial claim” is tantamount to a
sellout or weakening of the Philippine claim to these territories.
“It should be made abundantly clear that by making our claims to the
Kalayaan Islands and Scarborough Shoal, we are not going to war against
China or any other country that have made similar claims on these islands
and shoals,” Pimentel said.
“What we are trying to do is to stake our claim more formally by stating
them in the fundamental law.”
Pimentel said that “if we are in error, then the United Nations body that
has jurisdiction over the matter should arbitrate the claims that clash with
ours and to tell us to adjust our claim accordingly.”
He said Congress should enact the law on the archipelagic baselines before
the May 2009 deadline set by the United Nations so that the country’s claim
to an expanded maritime territory would not be jeopardized or worse,
forfeited.
Date: July 17, 2008
Ref: Omeng Maglangit / (02) 5526733 |
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