Assignment #1

Based on the last part of Video Lecture No. 1 which is the “Case Study” included in Module 1,
will you consider New Manila as a State? Explain and justify your answers based on your
understanding of the knowledge of the 4 Elements of the State.

The primary issue in the given case is whether the established New Manila in the Pacific
Ocean would be considered a state. After studying the case involving the important elements of
the state, I conclude that New Manila is not a state. Authorities agree on certain fundamental
aspects of a state, such as people, territory, governance, and sovereignty. To back up my opinion,
I will utilize these four state elements to demonstrate that New Manila is not a state.
The population will be the first factor to back up the statement. It describes people who
have a permanent home in some area. The population must also be reasonably stable. The people
who live in the state permanently make up the population. According to the case study, there
were 3000 passengers on board the modern cruise ship, 2000 of whom were employees in
various fields, and 1,000 were members of a boat crew who had decided to settle permanently on
Pacific Ocean territory. Since the cruise ship was anchored permanently on top of a coral
formation, it shows that the people have no intention of using the boat once more to return to the
Philippines. Since people are living there, a greater chance that the territory will be recognized as
a state. It is believed that there cannot be any state without the population staying there. But does
having 3000 people live there make it qualify to become a state? Traveling nomads and gypsies
cannot produce a people for the state. As a result, each state has an undefined population.
Second, every state requires a distinct piece of land with a permanent population on it.
The state's territory's borders must be specifically defined. According to the case study, no one in
the area proclaimed a state, that's why people decided to live permanently on the boarded-up
territory. A portion of the sea that touches the state's shore, with a sea-belt measuring between
three and a half miles and eighteen miles, is included in the state's territory, along with the state's
rivers, land surface, and underneath mineral resources. Additionally, the area of air above the
earth is an essential component of the state. Is it permitted to establish a state in that Pacific
Ocean? We can't say that the region of the Pacific Ocean, where New Manila is located, is part of
their territory because they still have a lot of work to do with the international to define their
environment. It doesn't indicate that there is no state on the land, only that no one owns it.
Therefore, I can't say that in this case, New Manila defines its territory.
Third, a state does not necessarily exist just because there is a population there. To
enforce the rule of law and maintain order there must be some form of authority. This authority,
which belongs to the public, is known as the government. In the election, the majority of voters
chose the ship's captain to serve as president and the first mate to serve as vice president. The
state must have a solid relationship of control and compliance with the government since it
formulates, enacts, and conveys the people's will. As a result, just like the state's population and
territory, the government is essential to it. Three branches compose the government, such as
legislative, executive, and judicial. Their individual areas of influence are distinct. Legislation is
created, put into effect by the executive branch, and then interpreted by the judiciary. However,
according to New Manila, the government is being formed by these two leaders, who are
currently the sole elected officials. Because New Manila has a government, it qualifies as a state.
And last, sovereignty. The state's most important quality is its excellence in all areas,
both inside and without its borders. The state is in charge of all internal matters. It can implement
its plans and policies over the entire breadth and depth of its domain. Any wrongdoer wherever
in its area can be punished by it. To establish diplomatic ties with its neighbors in the Pacific
Ocean, including Tonga, Kiribati, Tahiti, the Fiji Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and
the Philippines, the leaders of New Manila sent emissaries to each of these nations. Because the
state is also externally sovereign and implements global foreign and economic policy, they did
so. Each state has equal standing before the other states under international law. This feature of
sovereignty sets the state apart from all other types of organizations. States are the primary
participants in the international system. The state's sovereignty is essential to the international
order because it grants it a great deal of power and control. We are unable to assert that they
already exercise sovereign authority in New Manila because neither the adjacent statehood nor
the international order recognizes the prospective new state as an official state. This is where the
significance of recognition plays a role.
In my opinion, New Manila has a reasonable chance of becoming a state because it
satisfies all requirements, but this is insufficient for it to be recognized. since it is not indicated in
the case study that the opposing government or state recognizes New Manila as a state. New
Manila might be able to meet the standards, but because of its lack of recognition, it cannot be
recognized as a state. New Manila may appear to meet all four aspects of a state, but it still needs
political recognition from other countries. A state's potential for statehood is acknowledged when
it is recognized by another state.