Philippine Claim to the Spratly Islands Group*
PHILIPPINE CLAIM TO THE SPRATLY ISLANDS GROUP*
Introduction
The Philippines is a mid-ocean archipelago consisting of more than 7,100 islands some of which remain unnamed. The islands portion of the archipelago lies along some 1,150 miles between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. It is separated from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel, from Indonesia by the Celebes Sea,. from North Borneo (Sabah) by narrow passages, channels and straits, from the Asian mainland by the South China Sea and from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Island by the Philippine Sea which is an arm of the Pacific Ocean.
As such mid-ocean archipelago, some of its islands lie at a distance of more than twelve nautical miles from each other. For economic, fiscal, political, but more especially security reasons, the Philippines has been sensitive to the question of what constitutes its island waters and maritime boundaries, and has consistently been assertive of claims relative to them. It .therefore advances the notion of itself as an island-studded water with both land and water forming a composite and integral unity making up territory.4 The legal foundations of such claims are recognition by treaty, devolution of treaty rights, and historic title. Accordingly, since its first opportunity to officially define its national territory, the Philippines has consistently claimed boundaries that cover expanses of water greater than those traditionally recognized by international law in favor of non-archipelagic states. Thus, Article I of the Philippine Constitution of 1935 provided:
The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris concluded between the United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article III of said treaty, together with all the islands embraced in the treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and Spain on the seventh day of November,
Introduction
The Philippines is a mid-ocean archipelago consisting of more than 7,100 islands some of which remain unnamed. The islands portion of the archipelago lies along some 1,150 miles between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. It is separated from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel, from Indonesia by the Celebes Sea,. from North Borneo (Sabah) by narrow passages, channels and straits, from the Asian mainland by the South China Sea and from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Island by the Philippine Sea which is an arm of the Pacific Ocean.
As such mid-ocean archipelago, some of its islands lie at a distance of more than twelve nautical miles from each other. For economic, fiscal, political, but more especially security reasons, the Philippines has been sensitive to the question of what constitutes its island waters and maritime boundaries, and has consistently been assertive of claims relative to them. It .therefore advances the notion of itself as an island-studded water with both land and water forming a composite and integral unity making up territory.4 The legal foundations of such claims are recognition by treaty, devolution of treaty rights, and historic title. Accordingly, since its first opportunity to officially define its national territory, the Philippines has consistently claimed boundaries that cover expanses of water greater than those traditionally recognized by international law in favor of non-archipelagic states. Thus, Article I of the Philippine Constitution of 1935 provided:
The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris concluded between the United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article III of said treaty, together with all the islands embraced in the treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and Spain on the seventh day of November,