G.R No.

187167
Magallona vs. Ermita August 16, 2011
FACTS:
RA 9522 is a law enacted by the Congress to amend certain provisions of RA 3046 in
compliance with the terms laid out of the UNCLOS III, which the Philippines is a signatory of.
This amended law aims to mark-out specific base points along the Philippine coast by defining
the sea limits of a state. However, petitioner questions the constitutionality of the law as it is
allegedly in violation of Article 1 of the 1987 Constitution and that it opens the country’s waters
to maritime passage by all vessels and aircrafts, undermining Philippine sovereignty and national
security.
ISSUE: Whether or not RA 9522 is unconstitutional.
RULING:
RA 9522 is not unconstitutional as it is a statutory tool to demarcate the country’s maritime
zones and continental shelf under UNCLOS III, and not to delineate Philippine territory as what
the petitioners contend.
While the petitioners hold that RA 9522 dismembers a large portion of the national territory and,
in turn, outstrips Philippine’s sovereignty over its territorial waters, the Court, however, ruled
otherwise. It is stated that UNCLOS III has nothing to do with the acquisition or loss of territory.
The enactment of the baselines law by UNCLOS III States parties is to mark-out specific
basepoints along their coasts from which baselines are drawn to serve as geographic starting
points to measure the breadth of the maritime zones and continental shelf. Thus, RA 9522, being
a mere baselines law, is nothing but a statutory mechanism for UNCLOS III States parties to
delimit with precision the extent of their maritime zones and continental shelves.
Hence, UNCLOS III and its ancillary baselines laws play no role in the acquisition, enlargement
or, as petitioners claim, diminution of territory nor does it discriminate against the Constitution.

Concurring opinion
Velasco, Jr., J.
A statute is a product of hard work and earnest studies of Congress to ensure that no
constitutional provision, prescription, or concept is infringed. RA 9522 was enacted in response
to the country’s commitment to conform to some 1982 Law of the Sea Convention provisions to
define new archipelagic baselines through legislation. Such legislation shall not in any manner
impair or prejudice the sovereignty of the Republic over any territory over which it exercises
sovereign authority, as it is in pursuant to the provisions of the Philippine Constitution.

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