Maritime zones long defined under law — JPE

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce said the Senate should not bother enacting the maritime zones measure since the country's territory has long been defined under the Baselines Law.

Enrile was reacting to reports that the Senate is consolidating eight proposed measures seeking to define the maritime zones of the Philippines that the legislators said should strengthen the country's claim in the West Philippine Sea, but which would merely duplicate a 2009 law.

Senator Francis Tolentino, the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones chairperson, had said that a new Philippine map, with its specified maritime zones, would be included in the proposed mandate.

"We will be sending a copy of the measure to the UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) Secretariat (and) the United Nations for their recognition as well. But again, the other countries supporting us would also support our claim based on our new Maritime Zone Law," he said.

The Baselines Law is already in the hands of international bodies.

The proposed measure, Tolentino said, would also specify the sea lanes, air routes, and natural resources within the country's exclusive economic zone.

"Once crafted into law, this will be part of our argument that China should abide by UNCLOS because the progeny of UNCLOS is the Maritime Zone Law. So this will fortify our claim," he said.

The process, however, is redundant since "we already have the Baselines Law," Enrile indicated on his weekly program Bayan ni Juan.

"We applied the principle of archipelagic waters consisting of Amianan island in the north and Sibutu in the east, and you have a 12-mile limit from the baseline that is considered part of Philippine waters where Filipinos can fish," he explained.

So they don't have to craft another law since the law already exists; it was enacted during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, according to Enrile.

He added that the nine-dash line of China did not cover those areas under the law since China respected it.

Among the islands in the Baselines Law within the country's territory are the Kalayaaan group of islands and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

The Baselines Law, or Republic Act 9522, enacted in 2009, was cited as the basis for seeking the intervention of the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, which subsequently issued the ruling in July 2016 that favored the Philippines.

Enrile, one of the law's authors, said it intended to encourage further dialogue with China while asserting the country's stake.

A peaceful negotiation would be the only way for the Philippines to settle the West Philippine Sea issue with China under the landmark measure, particularly its claims over the Kalayaan island group and Scarborough Shoal.

Enrile said the regime of islands the Baselines Law sought to protect was demarcated based on the provisions of UNCLOS.

China protested the law's enactment, but Enrile said a dialogue might iron out the kinks between both nations.

"The only capability we have is through negotiations; we must use patience in negotiating with China," he said.

Status quo once existed

The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, in a white paper it issued shortly after the arbitral ruling titled "China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea," stated that a near stable situation existed in the disputed territory.