National Territory

ARTICLE 1 OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

 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.

IMPORTANCE OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION ON NATIONAL

TERRITORY
1. Serves as a guidance to the nation state as well as on the other country on the boundary of such
state.
2. Territorial Application of Laws – the laws of the Republic of the
Philippines are enforceable only within its territory.
TERRITORY
 It is the fixed portion on the surface of the earth on which the State settles and over which
it has supreme authority.

COMPOSITION OF THE PHILIPPINE TERRITORY

1. Philippine Archipelago.
2. All other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction

DIFFERENT DOMAINS IN THE PHILIPPINE TERRITORIAL

JURISDICTION
 Aerial (Air)
 Terrestrial (Land)
 Fluvial (Water)

TERRESTRIAL DOMAIN (LAND TERRITORY)

 It refers to the land mass, by which may be integrate or dismembered, or partly bound by
water or consist of one whole island. It may also be composed of several islands, like the
Philippines.

FLUVIAL DOMAIN (MARITIME TERRITORY)

 Covers the internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and
continental shelf.

AERIAL DOMAIN (AIRSPACE)

 It includes the air directly above the state’s terrestrial and fluvial domains, all the way up
to where the outer space begins. In International Convention on Civil Aviation holds that
every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the air space above its territory.

ARCHIPELAGO
 Derived from the Greek word pelagos meaning “sea”.
 A sea or part of a sea containing many islands.
 It includes both sea and islands which geographically may be considered as an
independent whole.

MARITIME TERRITORY
 Internal Waters – are all the waters that fall landward of the baseline, such as lakes,
rivers and tidewaters. The state has sovereign jurisdiction over internal waters hence; there
is no right of innocent passage through internal waters.
  It is consists of the waters around, between and connecting the islands of the Philippine
Archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, including the waters in bays,
rivers, and lakes.
 Territorial Sea – is everything from the baseline to a limit not exceeding twelve (12)
nautical miles. The state has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territorial sea. These
rights extend not only on the surface but also the seabed and subsoil, as well as vertically
to airspace.
 Contiguous Zone – it is a zone contiguous to the territorial sea and extends up to twelve
(12) nautical miles from the territorial sea or twenty-four (24) NM from the baseline. The
coastal state may exercise control necessary to prevent its infringement of its customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory (Article 33 of
UNCLOS).
 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – is a zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from the
baseline of a state over which the coastal state has sovereign rights for the purpose of
exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living
or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and subsoil and with regard to other
activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone ( Article 56 and 57 of
UNCLOS)

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA

(UNCLOS)
 It provides for the comprehensive legal framework governing all activities and uses of
world’s seas and oceans.
 Adopted in 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica and entered into force on November 16, 1994.
 It established the states’ territorial sea, contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone.

SOVEREIGNTY VS SOVEREIGN RIGHTS

 Under the International Law, the Philippines has sovereign rights – not sovereignty – over
the West Philippine Sea;
 Sovereignty is like a full ownership of a property, with all the rights it implies, including
the right to destroy it. It applies to the Philippines’ landmass and its 12 NM territorial sea.
 Sovereign rights function: like usufruct, a right to use and enjoy property.
 Sovereign rights allow Philippines to exclusively fish and enjoy marine resources such as
oil and natural gas, in its 200 NM EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.
 Even though the Philippines do not have sovereignty over the entire EEZ, we have the
right to assert or defend our rights to the natural resources in it.