Milcah Inggo

Constitutional Law I

ASSIGNMENT NO. 2
A. Read Republic of the Philippines vs. People's Republic of China, PCA Case No. 2013-19.
B. Video: Defending Philippine Sovereign Rights in the West Philippine Sea, by Justice Antonio T.
Carpio. (Youtube)
C. Answer the ff.
1. What comprises the territory of the Philippines?
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, the seabed, 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 the internal waters of the Philippines. (Article I of the 1987
Constitution)
2. Make a table summarizing the breadth and coastal rights in territorial sea, contigous zone,
continental shelf, exclusive economic zone (EZZ) and the high seas.

Territorial Sea Contiguous Continental Exclusive High

Zone Shelf Economic Seas
Zone
Breadt 12 nautical miles (nm) 24 nm from 200 nm from 200 nm from Marine
h from the baseline of a the baselines the coastal the country’s areas
coastal State state’s coastline outside
baseline of the
200
nautical
mile
EEZ.
Coastal Within this zone, the A state can Right to Sovereign Open to
rights coastal State exercises continue to harvest (or rights for all
full sovereignty over enforce its grant the exploration, States
the air space above the laws in the right to exploitation,
sea and over contiguous others) conservation
the seabed and subsoil zones mineral and and resource
. A coastal State may concerning non-living managemen
legislate on matters the following material in t of living
 concerning the safety four specific the subsoil of and non-
of navigation, the matters: its living natural
preservation of the 1.Customs continental resources of
environment, and the 2.Taxation shelf, with waters
prevention, reduction, 3.Immigration the exclusion within the
and control of 4.Pollution of any other country’s
pollution without any right EEZ
obligation to make
these rules compliant
with international
standards. Resource
use within the
territorial sea is strictly
reserved to the coastal
State.

3. Make a table defining and stating the maritime rights of island, rock, low tide elevation and
high tide elevation.

Rock Low Tide Elevation

Maritime Rights Generate a contiguous zone,
but no exclusive economic
zone
Generate nothing, unless they are
within 12 nautical miles of land or
an island, in which case they can
be used as starting points from
which the territorial sea, the
contiguous zone, and exclusive
economic zone can be measured

4. Define sovereignty and sovereign rights. Apply these terms in Philippine territory and EEZ.
Sovereignty is a full right and power of a governing body or political actor, such as a
state, over itself, without any interference and restriction from outside bodies or sources. On
the other hand, Sovereign rights, as the term is used in UNCLOS, pertain to the entitlements
or privileges of a state to a defined area of a sea called the exclusive economic zone.
Sovereignty applies to the Philippines' landmass and its 12-nautical mile territorial sea
while sovereign rights allow the Philippines to exclusively fish and enjoy marine resources,
such as oil and natural gas, in its 200-nautical mile EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.