Philippine Territory. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

    Bring a map – digital or cardboard; on your i-pad, tablet or kartolina. Draw the straight lines connecting the outermost non-disputed islands, islets, shelves, reefs, atolls of the Philippines as provided for and recognized by UNCLOS, to illustrate to laypeople how the law and facts are on the side of the Philippine claim. Why? For the future. You’ll have to rely on your own strength as well as on solidarity with the community of nations.

     The archipelagic baselines unarguably show that the disputed shoals, reefs, banks, islets (Spratlys, Mischief Reef, Panatag shoal, etc.) fall well within or are inside the Philippine archipelagic baselines. To allow mini-Chinese territories within the Philippine archipelagic baselines would pose a serious security threat to the territorial integrity of the Philippines. It would also create “pockets of high seas” within Philippine territory which opens it up to all kinds of foreign entry/ passage/ occupation,  innocent or otherwise.

       China  has a playbook and it’s trying to find out how the group of ….

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UNCLOS

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UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

PART IV

 ARCHIPELAGIC STATES

 Article 46

 Use of terms

For the purposes of this Convention:

 (a)          “archipelagic State” means a State constituted wholly by one or more archipelagos and may include other islands;

 (b)          “archipelago” means a group of islands, including parts of islands, interconnecting waters and other natural features which are so closely interrelated that such islands, waters and other natural features form an intrinsic geographical, economic and political entity, or which historically have been regarded as such.

 Article 47

Archipelagic baselines

 1.            An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines joining the outermost points of the outermost islands and drying reefs of the archipelago provided that within such baselines are included the main islands and an area in which the ratio of the area of the water to the area of the land, including atolls, is between 1 to 1 and 9 to 1.

 2.            The length of such baselines shall not exceed 100 nautical miles, except that up to 3 per cent of the total number of baselines enclosing any archipelago may exceed that length, up to a maximum length of 125 nautical miles.

 3.            The drawing of such baselines shall not depart to any appreciable extent from the general configuration of the archipelago.

 4.            Such baselines shall not be drawn to and from low-tide elevations, unless lighthouses or similar installations which are permanently above sea level have been built on them or where a low-tide elevation is situated wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the nearest island.

 5.            The system of such baselines shall not be applied by an archipelagic State in such a manner as to cut off from the high seas or the exclusive economic zone the territorial sea of another State.

 6.            If a part of the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State lies between two parts of an immediately adjacent neighbouring State, existing rights and all other legitimate interests which the latter State has traditionally exercised in such waters and all rights stipulated by agreement between those States shall continue and be respected.

 7.            For the purpose of computing the ratio of water to land under paragraph l, land areas may include waters lying within the fringing reefs of islands and atolls, including that part of a steep-sided oceanic plateau which is enclosed or nearly enclosed by a chain of limestone islands and drying reefs lying on the perimeter of the plateau.

 8.            The baselines drawn in accordance with this article shall be shown on charts of a scale or scales adequate for ascertaining their position. Alternatively, lists of geographical coordinates of points, specifying the geodetic datum, may be substituted.

 9.            The archipelagic State shall give due publicity to such charts or lists of geographical coordinates and shall deposit a copy of each such chart or list with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

 

Article 48

 Measurement of the breadth of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf

 

The breadth of the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall be measured from archipelagic baselines drawn in accordance with article 47.

  

Article 49

 Legal status of archipelagic waters, of the air space over  archipelagic waters and of their bed and subsoil

 

1.            The sovereignty of an archipelagic State extends to the waters enclosed by the archipelagic baselines drawn in accordance with article 47, described as archipelagic waters, regardless of their depth or distance from the coast.

 2.            This sovereignty extends to the air space over the archipelagic waters, as well as to their bed and subsoil, and the resources contained therein.

 3.            This sovereignty is exercised subject to this Part.

 4.            The regime of archipelagic sea lanes passage established in this Part shall not in other respects affect the status of the archipelagic waters, including the sea lanes, or the exercise by the archipelagic State of its sovereignty over such waters and their air space, bed and subsoil, and the resources contained therein.

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