West Philippine Sea

The area designated as "West Philippine Sea" is the

slightly darker blue area west of the Philippines.

West Philippine Sea is the official

designation by the Philippine government
of eastern parts of the South China Sea
which are included in the Philippines'
exclusive economic zone. The term is also
sometimes used to refer to the South
China Sea as a whole.

Background
The first use of the term "West Philippine
Sea" by the Philippine government was as
early as 2011 during the administration of
then-President Benigno Aquino III.[1] The
naming was intended as symbolic gesture
to dispute the China's sovereignty claim
over the whole South China Sea.[2]
In September 2012, the Philippine
government announced that it would start
using the name to refer to waters west of
the Philippines as "West Philippine Sea" in
government maps, other forms of
communication and documents.[1]

2016 PCA ruling

On 12 July 2016, the Permanent Court of

Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines.
It clarified that it would not "...rule on any
question of sovereignty over land territory
and would not delimit any maritime
boundary between the Parties".[3][4] The
tribunal also ruled that China has "no
historical rights" based on the "nine-dash
line" map.[3][4]

Legal scope

The maritime areas on the

western side of the Philippine
archipelago are hereby named
as the West Philippine Sea.
These areas include the Luzon
Sea as well as the waters around
within the adjacent to the
Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo
de Masinloc, also known as
Scarborough Shoal.
 — Sec. 1, Administrative
Order No. 29 (2012)[5]

In Philippine law, the West Philippine Sea

refers to only portions of the South China
Sea particularly parts of the sea which the
Philippine government claims to be part of
the country's exclusive economic zone
(EEZ). The naming of the area became
official through Administrative Order No.
29 issued by then-President Benigno
Aquino III on September 5, 2012. The order
also cites Presidential Decree No. 1599
which was issued in 1978 during the
tenure of then President Ferdinand Marcos
which established the Philippine EEZ as
well as the Republic Act No. 9522 or the
Baselines Law which was enacted into law
in 2009 during the administration of then-
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which
delineated the baselines of the Philippine
archipelago.[6]

The administrative order asserts the

Philippine claim over its EEZ in the South
China Sea which conveys the Philippine
government's position that it has
sovereign rights under the 1982 United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
over the West Philippine Sea area and
"inherent power and right to designate its
maritime areas with appropriate
nomenclature for purposes of the national
mapping system".[6]

There is no exact demarcation for the area

in the South China Sea which forms the
West Philippine Sea.[2]

Usage
Under the Administrative Order No. 29, the
National Mapping and Resource
Information Authority is mandated to use
the designation West Philippine Sea in
maps produced and published by the
government agency. Other government
agencies are also required to used the
term to popularized the use of the name
domestically and internationally.[6]

Prior to the issuance of the order, the

Philippines' weather bureau, PAGASA,
adopted the name in 2011 to refer to
waters west of the country while remained
using "Philippine Sea" to refer waters east
of the archipelago.[7]

References
1. "Philippines renames coast 'West
Philippine Sea' " . South China
Morning Post. Agence France-Presse.
12 September 2012. Retrieved
18 June 2019.
2. Heydarian, Javad. "The West
Philippine Sea?" . The Diplomat.
Retrieved 18 June 2019.
3. "PCA Press Release: The South China
Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the
Philippines v. The People's Republic
of China) | PCA-CPA" . pca-cpa.org.
Retrieved 12 July 2016.
4. Perlez, Jane (12 July 2016). "Tribunal
Rejects Beijing's Claims in South
China Sea" . The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 12 July
2016.
5. "ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 29 :
NAMING THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA
 OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES" . Official Gazette.
Government of the Philippines.
September 5, 2012.
6. Ubac, Michael Lim (13 September
2012). "It's official: Aquino signs
order on West Philippine Sea" .
Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved
18 June 2019.
7. "South China Sea renamed in the
Philippines" . www.asiaone.com.

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Last edited 25 days ago by Hariboneagle927

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