ARTICLE I (NATIONAL TERRITORY) 2.
All Other Territories Over Which the Philippines Has
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.
- In the exercise of sovereignty, it is crucial and imperative that a
sovereign state know the extent of its territory wherein it can exercise
its jurisdiction.
- The provision on national territory is a substantial reproduction of
article 1 of the 1973 constitution with some minor changes.
- In the 1935 constitution it describes the national territory by
referring to the treaties concluded by the United States during its
regime in the Philippines.
- The present Constitution physically list the components of the
territory and reduces the emphasis of our colonial past.
- The article has deleted reference to the territories we claimed by
historic or legal title, but this does not mean an outright or formal
abandonment of such claim, which is best left to a judicial body
capable of passing judgment over the issue.
- A Constitution, however, is a municipal and not an international
law. As such, it binds only the state promulgating it.
- For the claimed territories to be honored by other states, the claim
must be supported by treaties or other recognized principles of
international law.
- The Philippine archipelago was based on the 1935 version of the
national territory wherein it was described as the areas covered by the
treaty of Paris, together with all the islands in the treaty concluded at
Washington on November 7, 1900 and in the treaty between the
United States and Great Britain on January 2, 1930. These are still
the areas referred to by the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions.
- The phrase all other territories over which the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction was meant to be a catch-all statement to
cover other claims from which the Philippines may have but might be
contested by others.
- The last sentence of the provision makes reference to the adherence
in the archipelago doctrine under which we connect the outermost
points of our archipelago with straight baselines and consider all the
waters enclosed therein as internal waters.
- As for our territorial sea, these are defined under the Jamaica
convention on the law of the sea, ratified on November 16, 1994, to
which the Philippines is a signatory.
▲ Components of the National Territory
1. Philippine Archipelago with All the Islands and Water
Embraced Therein
• Archipelago – a body of water studded with islands, and the
Philippines is composed of more than 7,000 islands.
- The Philippines is the very archipelago delineated in the treaty of
Paris of December 10, 1898 concluded by the United States and
Spain, and was modified by the treaty of Washington of November 7,
1900 and the treaty with Great Britain on January 2, 1930.
- These are the treaties mentioned in the definition of national
territory under the 1935 constitution.
Sovereignty or Jurisdiction
- This refers to territories that might presently or in the future belong
to the Philippines covered by any of the modes of acquisition such as
discovery and occupation accepted under international law such as
the Philippines' pending claims over the Spratly islands along the
South China Sea.
3. The Terrestrial, Fluvial, and Aerial Domain As Well As the
Territorial Sea, the Seabed, the Subsoil, the Insular Shelves, and
Other Submarine Areas
- Also forms part of our national territory are the terrestrial, fluvial,
and aerial domains as well as the territorial sea and its components.
• Territorial sea – is that part of the sea adjacent to the coast of a
given country, which is by international law deemed to be within the
sovereignty of the country, thereby giving the court's jurisdiction
over offenses committed on those waters.
▲ Archipelago Doctrine
• Archipelago doctrine - by this doctrine is meant that a group of
islands shall be considered as a national unit.
- The waters around, between and connecting every island on the
group regardless of their breath and dimensions will be treated as part
of the internal waters.
- The doctrine implies full dominion and sovereign rights over the
waters among the island, which comprise the Philippine archipelago.
- With the application of the archipelago doctrine, the identity of the
republic of the Philippines as one state is preserved and the Filipino
nation look up as a unit and not as a splintered into 7,000 islands.
- Under the United Nations (UN) convention on the law of the sea on
April 30 1982, which is ratified by the Philippines in 1983, provides
for a contiguous zone measuring 12 miles.
- Notwithstanding the fact that the Article I of the constitution did not
provide for an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 nautical miles, the
exclusive economic zone is a recognized principle of international
law.
- As such is recognized under our constitution by virtue of its
adoption of the generally accepted principles of international law.
- The exclusive economic zone shall extend to a distance of 200
nautical miles beyond and from the baseline from which the
territorial sea is measured.
- Provided, that, where the outer limits of the zone as thus determined
overlap the exclusive economic zone of an adjacent or neighboring
state, the common boundaries shall be determined by agreement with
the state concerned or in accordance with pertinent generally
recognized principles of international law on delimitation.
- The state has the sovereign rights over the exclusive economic zone
to explore, manage and exploit all the natural resources living and
non-living in its waters, the seabed, and the subsoil.
▲ Philippine Territorial Issues
1. The Sabah Issue
- The Sabah claim came into being in 1850 when the sultan of brunei,
out of gratitude for assistance given to him to quell a rebellion, ceded
North Borneo (Sabah) to his cousin the Sultan of Sulu.
- Thereafter, two foreigners Messrs. Overbeck and Dent, an Austrian
and British, went to the Sultan of Brunei to try to lease North Borneo,
the latter inform them that the area was ceded to the Sultan of Sulu. –
- Botu then went to the sultan of Sulu to make negotiations. A lease
contract was subsequently drawn up but could not be found for a long
time.
- Sometime in 1971, one of the delegates to the constitutional
convention then attached to the department of foreign affairs made
research on the least contract between the sultan of Sulu and north
Borneo Company, the second lessee.
- The British government had been paying rentals to the sultan of
Sulu and his heirs up to 1950 when payment was stopped because the
heirs of the sultan of Sulu could not be determined.
- Based on this historical fact, the Philippines laid its claim over the
Spratlys.
- However, the Philippine government had already relinquished its
claim over the Sabah during the ASEAN summit meeting in 1977.
- President took the action upon the recommendation of three foreign
ministers namely Pelaez, Romula and Tolentino because the claim
has been self-defeating in terms of national objectives.
- When the United Nations conducted a referendum in 1963 at the
behest of the Philippine and Indonesian governments the people of
Sabah overwhelmingly voted to become part of Malaysia.

2. Kalayaan Island Group

• Kalayaan or Freedom Group of Islands – a group of islands and
islets within the South China Sea.
- The Philippine claim over the island is a result of the discovery by a
Filipino navigator Tomas Cloma of the group of islands.
- After which Tomas transferred the interest as well as the rights over
the island to the Philippine government.
- As mentioned, discovery and eventual occupation is an
internationally recognized mode of acquiring territory under the
principles of international law.
- President Marcos then issued Presidential Decree 1596 (June 11,
1978), stating that the Spratlys are part of our national territory and
laid down the basis of Philippine claim over the islands and islets of
the Spratlys as by reason of history, indispensable need, and effective
occupation and control established in accordance with the
international law, such as areas must now them to belong and subject
to the sovereignty of the Philippines.
- However, until today many countries are also claiming rights over
the islands, which includes China, Vietnam, Malaysia and even
Indonesia.