Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region I
Schools Division Office I Pangasinan
Alvear St. Lingayen, Pangasinan
Tel. No./Fax No. (075) 522-2202(OSDS);(075) 632-8385(ASDS)
E-mail : pangasinan1@deped.gov.ph ; officeofthesdspangasinani@gmail.com

UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY, CULTURE AND POLITICS

1st Performance Task – Quarter I
Name: Date:
Grade level and Strand: Score:

II. Essay: (10 points)

Read the article entitled the Sovereignty vs sovereign rights: What do we have in West PH Sea? from
an online report of the https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/234145- explainer-sovereignty -sovereign
rights-west-Philippine-sea on June 29, 2019. MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos fumed when President
Rodrigo Duterte stressed that the Philippines has "no sovereignty" over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
in the West Philippine Sea. "No country in the world has sovereignty over its exclusive economic zone,"
Duterte said in a speech on June 26. Duterte had also said on June 21 that the sinking of a Filipino fishing
boat by a Chinese ship in Recto Bank (Reed Bank) in the West Philippine Sea "was not an attack on our
sovereignty." Is Duterte correct? Or as Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, a lawyer, asked a
reporter in a press conference on June 27, "Ano ba ang difference ng sovereign rights at saka sovereignty.
Meron ba (What's the difference between sovereign rights and sovereignty. Is there a difference)?" Rappler
consulted two of the Philippines' leading experts on the West Philippine Sea – Supreme Court Senior
Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute
for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea. The short answer is: Yes, under international law, the
Philippines has no sovereignty – and only has sovereign rights – over its EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippine government is duty-bound to defend its sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea,
experts said. What is the difference between sovereignty and sovereign rights? Batongbacal explained that
sovereignty "is like full ownership of property, with all the rights it implies, including the right to destroy
it." Sovereignty applies to the Philippines' landmass and its12-nautical mile territorial sea. Exclusive
sovereign rights function "like usufruct, a right to use and enjoy property," said Batongbacal. 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. Process Questions:
1. As a Filipino citizen, how can you defend your sovereign rights in your country?
2. As a student what can you contribute to resolve the issues of South China Sea?

Point Criteria
10 If the idea is original, the grammar is correct, and has clear thoughts.
8 If the idea is original and has clear thoughts.
6 Has clear ideas and explained it well.
4 The idea is relevant to the theme.
2 There is an idea.