Section 1, Article 1of the 1987 Constitution  In other words, it includes both sea and islands which geographically
other words, it includes both sea and islands which geographically may be considered
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and
waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea,
these abed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around,
between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of internal waters of the Philippines.
Necessity of constitutional provision on National Territory
1. Binding force of such provision under international law
 A state has the power to try, hear and decide cases throughout the extent of its
territory.
 If there is a territorial dispute it should be settled according to the international
law.
2. Value of provision defining our national territory.
 It is important to know so that we and the other nations would know the boundaries of
our country.
3. Acquisition of other territories.
 Even though the bounds of our national territory is already written in the law, this does
not prevent the Philippines from acquiring new territories by means of purchase,
exchange, and such.
National Territory of the Philippines comprises of:
1. The Philippine archipelago with all the islands and waters embraced therein;
2. All other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction.
3. The terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains including the territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil,
the insular shelves, and other submarine areas thereof; and
4. The internal waters.
Archipelago
 Derived from the Greek word pelagos meaning “sea.”
 A sea or part of a sea containing many islands.
as an independent whole.
 Our country is comprised of the sea and all its islands which is considered to be one
single unit.
Other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction
According to the 1973 constitution, “all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by
historic right or legal”
1. Philippine claim to Sabah
 Sabah is the northern part of Borneo.
 Coastline of 800 to 900 miles
 South China Sea in the West and North
 Sulu Sea in the Northeast
 Celebes Sea in the East
 It is 1,143km from Manila and 1678 km from Kuala Lumpur.
The Sultan of Sulu was granted the territory of Saba has a prize for helping The Sultan of
Brunei against his enemies and from then on that part of Borneo is recognized as part of the
Sultan of Sulu’s sovereignty. But in 1878, Baron Von Overbeck, a German representative of the
British North Borneo Co. and his partner Alfred Dent, a British representative of the British North
Borneo Co. leased the territory known as “Sabah.”
Britain took Sabah on July 10, 1946 as part of its crown territories and then made the
land part of the Federation of Malaysia. The Philippines maintained that the contract with
Overdeck and Dent was for lease but the United Kingdom insisted it was for cession or transfer
of ownership.
The Philippines broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia after the federation have
included “Sabah”. At that time, the current Sultan of Sulu have given the Philippine government
the authority to pursue the claim legally in international courts.
In 1972, the Marcos administration revived the claim; but, the “Jabidah Massacre”
incident shelved it once more.
The Sulu Sultanate, in spite of it being located in Mindanao, is NOT the same as saying it
is under the rule of the Philippine government. It is, in fact, an independent Muslim state, which
historically has acquired territories in and around the Sulu Sea, including the island of Sabah.
When Malaysia got its independence from the British, the British company also"surrendered"
Sabah to Malaysia. The claim of the Sultan of Sulu would have more legal bearing if the
Philippines recognized the Sulu Sultanate. As a republic, the Philippine constitution does not
recognize royalties. Also no country recognizes the Sultanate of Sulu. Sabah will always be,
politically speaking, ruled by Malaysia. Its ownership, however, will always remain with the heirs
of the Sultanate. Philippines might not ever get to claim Sabah as its rightful territory.
2. Philippine claim to Spratley Island.
The Spratly Islands group consists of a large number of banks, reefs, cays and islands
stretching from a point. The Spratlies or some part thereof has been variously claimed by
China (both the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China), Viet-Nam, France,
Japan, the Philippines, and, also Malaysia.
In 1956, a Filipino navigator named Tomas Cloma issued a "Proclamation to the whole
World" asserting ownership by discovery and occupation over all the territory, "33 islands,
sands cays, sands bars and coral reefs and fishing grounds in the Spratlies covering an area
of 64,976 square nautical miles." This claim provoked statements of protest against the
Philippines by the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic· of Viet-Nam.
The legal bases of the demand were as follows:
( 1) The Philippines has legal title to the island group as a consequence of the occupation by
Tomas Cloma
(2) the presence of the Chinese forces in Itu Aba constituted a threat to the security of the
Philippines; (3) the Chinese occupation of some islands in the Spratly group constituted de
facto trusteeship on behalf of the World War II allies which precluded the gamsonning of the
islands without the allies consent; and
(4) the Spratly group is within the archipelagic territory claimed by the Philippines.
In 1974, an official spokesman of the Philippine government announced that the
Philippines had garrisoned five of the islands within the group. At present, the Philippines have
possession of seven islands. A number of Filipino nationals have settled in these islands, and a
local government has been organized in one of them.
On June 11, 1978, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1596 declaring
most19 of the islands, cays, shoals and reefs as belonging to the Philippines and forming an
integral part of Philippine territory. It named the area claimed "Kalayaan Island Group," which is
a Filipinized version of the name Tomas Cloma gave his discovery: "Freedom land." The group of
islands was integrated as a municipality of the province of Palawan.
Philippine island closest to the incorporated cluster decree cited a number of bases for the
claim to title, namely:
(1) the area is part of the continental margin of the Philippine archipelago;
(2) the islands do not belong to any state, but by reason of history, indispensable need, and
effective occupation and control established in accordance with international law, should now
be deemed subject to thesovereignty of the Philippines; and
(3) claims by other states over the area had lapse by reason of abandonment and cannot
prevail over that of the Philippines on legal, historical and equitable grounds.
Currently the Philippines is occupying nine features (seven islands, three reefs):
 Pagasa Island (Thitu Island) 37.2 ha. (2nd largest), pag-asa means hope
 Likas Island (West York Island) 18.6 ha. (3rd largest), likas means natural or evacuate
 Parola Island (Northeast Cay) 12.7 ha. (5th largest), parola means lighthouse
 Lawak Island (Nanshan Island) 7.93 ha. (8th largest), lawak means vastness
 Kota Island (Loaita Island) 6.45 ha. (10th largest), kuta means fortress
 Patag Island (Flat Island) 0.57 ha. (14th largest), patag means flat
 Panata Island (Lankiam Cay) 0.44 ha. (15th largest and the smallest, panatâ means vow
 Rizal Reef (Commodore Reef) Rizal is named after Dr. José P. Rizal, the national hero of
the Philippines
 Balagtas Reef (Irving Reef) poet Balagtas is named after Francisco Balagtas, a famous
Filipino poet
 Ayungin Reef (Second Thomas Reef) Ayungin is Leiopotherapon plumbeus, a Philippine-
endemic fish specie
2. Future claims by the Philippines to other areas.
The phrase “all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal
title.” Found in 1973 constitution was omitted in the present charter.
Other areas included in the Philippine archipelago
The Philippine territory consists of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains. Included in
its fluvial domains, in addition to the external waters, are:
1. Territorial sea.
2. The seabed
3. The subsoil
4. Insular shelves The state in the EEZ exercises jurisdiction with regard to:

5. Other submarine areas 1. the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and structures;

Three-fold division of navigable waters. 2. marine scientific research;

From the standpoint of international law, the waters of the earth are divided into: 3. the protection and preservation of marine environment;

1. Inland or internal waters The Philippine Position

2. Territorial sea (Supra)
3. High or open seas
All other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty
- includes any territory that presently belongs or might in the future belong to the
Philippines through any of the accepted international modes of acquiring territory.
Archipelagic Principle Two elements:
1. The definition of internal waters (supra);
2. The straight baseline method of delineating the territorial sea
Important distances with respect to the waters around the Philippines
-Territorial Sea 12 nautical miles (n.m.)
-Contiguous Zone 12 n.m. from the edge of the territorial sea
-Exclusive Economic Zone 200 n.m. from the baseline
Territorial Sea
1. The belt of the sea located between the coast and internal waters of the coastal state
on the one hand, and the high seas on the other, extending up to 12 nautical miles from
the low water mark.
1. Fatal effect application of 12 mile rule upon territorial integrity of the Philippines – To
apply to the three-mile rule to the Philippines, with every island having its own
territorial sea, would have a fatal effect upon the territorial integrity of the Philippines.
It would mean the dismemberment of the archipelago with the Sibuyan sea separating
the Visayas, and the Mindanao Strait and the Sulu isolating Palawan from the rest of the
archipelago.
These and other areas of waters would cease to be Philippine waters; they would
become international waters or high seas, and fishing vessels from all nation scan enter to get
fish and other living resources of the sea which nature and Divine Providence intended for the
Filipinos. Furthermore, warships of even unfriendly nations could enter these waters and stay
there with perfect legal right to do so. At the same time, we would lose a large part of our
territory on both sides of the archipelago, towards the China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
2. The Philippines, a single nation and a united state - More than seven thousand islands
comprise the Philippines ruled by one whole unitary government, bound by a common
heritage, beholden to the same tradition, pursuing the same ideals, interdependent and
united politically, economically and socially as one nation.
3. Archipelago principle fully recognized bu UN Law of the Sea Convention - The
archipelago principle and the exclusive economic zone rights are now fully recognized in
the U.N. Law of the Sea Convention. It was approved by the interim Batasang Pambansa
on February 27, 1984.

Contiguous Zone

2. Extends up to 12 nautical miles from the territorial sea. Although not part of the
territory, the coastal State may exercise jurisdiction to prevent infringement of customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws.

Exclusive Economic Zone