Article I NATIONAL TERRITORY Section 1.

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 domain, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves and other sub name areas. NECESSITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION ON NATIONAL TERRITORY 1. Binding force of such provision under international law- there is no rule in international law which requires a state to define its territorial boundaries in its constitution the reason is that with or without such a provision, a state under international law has the unquestioned right to assert jurisdiction throughout the extend of its territory. 2. Value of provision defining our national territory- it is important to define as precisely as possible our national territory for the purpose of making known to the world the area over which we assert title or ownership to avoid future conflicts with other nations. 3. Acquisition of other territories- incidentally, the definition of our national territory in our constitution does not prevent the Philippines from acquiring other territories in the future through any of the means sanctioned by international law. Archipelago The term archipelago is derived from the Greek word pelagos meaning sea . it has been defined as a sea or part of a sea studded with islands.

OTHER AREAS INCLUDED IN THE PHILLIPINE ARCHIPELAGO 1. The territorial sea- it is that part of the sea extending 12 nautical miles from the lowwatermark. It is also called the marginal sea, the marginal belt or the marine belt. 2. The seabed- this refers to the land that holds the sea, lying beyond the seashore, including mineral and natural resources. 3. The sub- soil- this refers to everything beneath the surface soil and the seabed, including mineral and natural resources. 4. Insular shelves- they are the submerged portions of a continent or offshore island, which slope gently seaward from the law waterline to a point where a substantial break in grade occurs, at which point the bottom slopes seaward at a considerable increase in slope until the great ocean depths are reached. 5. Other submarine areas- they refer to all areas under the territorial sea. Among oceanographic terms used are seamount, trough, trench, basin, deep, bank, shoal, and reef. THREE- FOLD DIVISION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS. 1. In land or internal waters- they are the parts of the sea within the land territory. They are sometimes called national waters. 2. Territorial Sea- it is belt of water outside and parallel to the coastline or to the outer limits of the inland or internal waters. 3. High or open seas- they are waters that lie seaward of the territorial sea.

JURIDICTION OVER NAVIGABLE WATERS The inland or internal waters and the territorial sea together comprise what is generally known as the territorial waters of a state. Over these waters, a state exercise sovereignty to the same extend as its land territory but foreign vessels have the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea. The archipelagic concept or principle of territoriality The use of the word archipelago in Article 1 is intended to project the idea that the Philippines is an archipelago and bolster the archipelagic concept which the Philippines, together with Indonesia, and other archipelago states, had espoused in international conferences on the law of the sea. PHILIPPINE POSITION 1. In the International Convention on the law of the sea held in Geneva in 1958, the Philippine position was explained as follows: To apply the three mile rule to the Philippines, with every island having its own territorial sea, would have a fatal effect upon the territorial integrity of the Philippines. 2. In a statement before the sub-committee II of the Committee on Peaceful Uses of the Seabed and The Ocean Floor Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction at Geneva on Aug. 16, 1971. To suggest that each island has its own territorial sea and that base lines must be drawn around each island is to splinter into 7,000 pieces what is a single nation and a United State.