National Territory

 Necessity of constitutional provision

on National Territory:
 1. Binding force of such provision
under international law- with or
without such provision, a State under
International law has the
unquestioned right to assert
jurisdiction throughout the extent of
its territory
 2. Value of provision defining or
national territory
National Territory of the
Philippines
 1. The Philippine archipelago with all
the islands & waters embraced
therein
 2.All other territories where the
Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction
 3. The terrestial fluvial,& aerial
domains including the territorial sea,
the seabed, the subsoil, the insural
shelves & other submarine areas
National Territory

 Definition of archipelago: “pelagos”

meaning sea. It is a sea or part of the
sea studded with islands synonymous
with island groups or a large group of
islands in an extensive body of water
as the sea.
 Other territories over which the
Philippines has juridiction:
 1. Pending Philippine claim to Sabah
etc.
 2. Future claims by the Philippines to
National Territory

 Included in the fluvial domains in the

country:
 1. territorial seas
 2. the seabed
 3. the subsoil
 4. insular shelves
 5. other submarine areas
 Three-fold division of navigable waters:
 1. Inland or internal waters
 2. Territorial sea
 3. High or open seas
National Territory

 The archipelagic concept or principle

of territoriality: The Philippines is a
state composed of a number of
islands
 The archipelago shall be considered a
single unit so that the waters around,
between, and the islands of the
archipelago irrespective of their
breadth & dimension form part of the
internal waters of the state subject
otexclusive sovereignty
National Territory

 The Philippine Position:

 1. Fatal effect of the application of the
12 mile rule upon territorial integrity of
the Philippines: dismemberment of the
archipelago with the Sibuyan Sea
separating the Visayas, & Mindanao
Strait and the Sulu isolating Palawan
from the rest of the archipelago
 2.The Philippines a single nation and a
united state
 3. Archipelago principle fully recognized
by UN Law of the Sea Convention