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COLLEGE OF LAW
2.
VI.
Congress passed Republic Act No. 7711 to
comply with the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea.
In a petition filed with the Supreme Court, Anak
Ti Ilocos, an association of Ilocano professionals,
argued that Republic Act No. 7711 discarded the
definition of the Philippine Territory under the Treaty
of Paris and in related treaties; excluded the Kalayaan
Islands and Scarborough Shoals from the Philippine
Archipelagic Baselines; and converted internal waters
into archipelagic waters.
Is the petition meritorious?
No, the petition is not meritorious. UNCLOS has
nothing to do with the acquisition (or loss) of
territory. It is a multilateral treaty regulating, among
others, sea-use rights among maritime zones and
continental shelves that UNCLOS III delimits.
The court finds RA No. 7711 constitutional and
is consistent with the Philippines national interest.
Aside from being the vital step in safeguarding the
countrys maritime zones, the law also allows an
internationally-recognized delimitation of the breadth
of the Philippines maritime zones and continental
shelf. The court also finds that the conversion of
internal waters to archipelagic waters will not risk the
Philippines as affirmed in the Article 49 of the
UNCLOS III, an archipelagic state has sovereign
power that extends to the waters enclosed by the
archipelagic baselines, regardless of their depth or
distance from the coast. It is further stated that the
regime of archipelagic sea lanes passage will not
affect the status of its archipelagic waters or the
exercise of sovereignty over waters and air space, bed
and subsoil and the resources therein (Prof. Merlin
Magallona, et al v. Hon. Eduardo Ermita, in his
capacity as Executive Secretary, et al, G.R. No.
187167, 16 July 2011)
VII.
As he was entering a bar, Arnold who was
holding an unlit cigarette in his right hand was
handed a matchbox by someone standing near the