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This original action for the writs of certiorari and prohibition assails the
constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9522 (RA 9522) adjusting the
country’s archipelagic baselines and classifying the baseline regime of
nearby territories.
What is Republic Act No. 9522?
Exclusive Economic
Zone 382,669
TOTAL 440,994 586,210
• Had Congress in RA 9522 enclosed the KIG and the Scarborough Shoal
as part of the Philippine archipelago, adverse legal effects would have
ensued. The Philippines would have committed a breach of two
provisions of UNCLOS III.
• Article 47 (3) of UNCLOS III requires that "[t]he drawing of such
baselines shall not depart to any appreciable extent from the
general configuration of the archipelago."
• Article 47 (2) of UNCLOS III requires that "the length of the
baselines shall not exceed 100 nautical miles," save for three per
cent (3%) of the total number of baselines which can reach up to
125 nautical miles
• In the absence of municipal legislation, international law
norms, UNCLOS III, operate to grant innocent passage rights
over the territorial sea or archipelagic waters, subject to the
treaty’s limitations and conditions for their exercise.
• The demarcation of the baselines enables the Philippines to
delimit its exclusive economic zone, reserving solely to the
Philippines the exploitation of all living and non-living
resources within such zone.
• Such a maritime delineation binds the international
community since the delineation is in strict observance of
UNCLOS III.
• Absent an UNCLOS III compliant baselines law, an
archipelagic State like the Philippines will find itself devoid of
internationally acceptable baselines from where the breadth
of its maritime zones and continental shelf is measured.
• RA 9522 is therefore a most vital step on the part of the
Philippines in safeguarding its maritime zones, consistent
with the Constitution and our national interest.
• End…