CALINGACION, CRISTINE JOY C.

BSED 1FILIPINO

DEFENDING PHILIPPINE SOVEREIGN RIGHTS

IN THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA

Yes, historical revisionism is used in China's claim over

the West Philippine Sea, As Justice Antonio T. Carpio discussed
in the five major issues that the Philippines raised in the South
China Sea arbitration, China's claim to historic rights beyond its
territorial sea is contrary to UNCLOS, and the nine-dashed line
has no legal basis and cannot generate any maritime entitlement
such as territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and so on.
There is no geologic feature in the Spratlys capable of supporting
human habitation or economic life on its own to generate a 200-
nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that can overlap
with Palawan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The third point he
made was that the Arbitral Tribunal has jurisdiction to rule on
the maritime entitlement and status (whether LTE or High-Tide
Elevation) of geologic features because these are not sovereignty
disputes because a state cannot exercise sovereignty over its
exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is a maritime entitlement
first created and governed by UNCLOS. A claim to an exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) is not a claim to sovereignty and Similarly,
the status of an LTE beyond the territorial sea cannot involve
any sovereignty dispute because such an LTE is incapable of
sovereign ownership and Finally, he discussed how Filipino
fishermen have traditional fishing rights in Scarborough Shoal's
territorial sea, regardless of which state exercises sovereignty
over the shoal—North America, Australia, New Zealand, the
Caribbean Sea, or the Pacific Ocean. Under international law, the
Philippines is only entitled to a 12 nautical mile territorial sea at
high tide and has no right of access to the sea.