Archipelagic Doctrine – emphasizes the unity of land and waters by defining an archipelago either as a

group of islands surrounded by waters or a body of waters studded with islands. For this purpose, it
requires that baselines be drawn by connecting the appropriate points of the “outermost islands to
encircle the islands within the archipelago. The waters on the landward side of the baselines regardless
of breadth or dimensions are merely internal waters.

The archipelagic doctrine is reflected in the 1987 Constitution. Article I, Section 1 provides that the
national territory of the Philippines includes the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters
embraced therein; and 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.

1935 Constitution

Article I.—THE NATIONAL TERRITORY

Section 1. The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to the United States by the treaty of Paris
concluded between the United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and
ninety-eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article III of said treaty, together with all the islands
embraced in the treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and Spain on the seventh
day of November, nineteen hundred, and in the treaty concluded between the United States and Great
Britain on the second day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty, and all territory over which the
present Government of the Philippine Islands exercises jurisdiction.

Provision on the National Territory of the 1973 Constitution

ARTICLE I - The National Territory

SECTION 1. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters
embraced therein, and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title
including the territorial sea, the air space, the subsoil, the seabed, the insular shelves, and the other
submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. The waters around,
between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions,
form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

1987 Constitution

Article I – The National Territory

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.