POLITICAL LAW PART III

ARTICLE I THE 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 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.
1. MOST Significant change compared with those of the 1935 and 1973

constitution
2. ARCHIPELAGO THEORY OR ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
It is defined as all waters, around between and connecting different islands belonging to
the Philippine Archipelago, irrespective of their width or dimension, are necessary
appurtenances of its land territory, forming an integral part of the national or inland
waters, subject to the exclusive sovereignty of the Philippines. It is found in the 2nd
sentence of Article 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
It emphasizes the unity of the land and waters by defining an archipelago as group of
islands surrounded by waters or a body of waters studded with islands.
To emphasize unity, an imaginary single baseline is drawn around the islands by joining
appropriate points of the outermost islands of the archipelago with straight lines and all
islands and waters enclosed within the baseline form part of its territory.
The main purpose of the archipelagic doctrine is to protect the territorial interests of an
archipelago, that is, the territorial integrity of the archipelago. Without it, there would be
pockets of high seas between some of our islands and islets, thus foreign vessels would

be able to pass through these pockets of seas and would have no jurisdiction over them.
Accordingly, if we follow the old rule of international law, it is possible that between
islands, e.g. Bohol and Siquijor, due to the more than 24 mile distance between the 2
islands, there may be high seas. Thus, foreign vessels may just enter anytime at will,
posing danger to the security of the State. However, applying the doctrine, even these
bodies of water within the baseline, regardless of breadth, form part of the archipelago
and are thus considered as internal waters.
Following the Archipelagic Doctrine, the Spratlys Group of Islands is not part of Philippine
archipelago. It is too far to be included within the archipelagic lines encircling the internal
waters of Philippine Archipelago. However, the SGI is part of the Philippine territory
because it was discovered by a Filipino seaman in the name of ViceAdmiral Cloma who
later renounced his claim over it in favor of the Republic of the Philippines. Subsequently,
then Pres. Marcos issued a Presidential Decree constituting SGI as part of the Philippine
territory and sending some of our armed forces to protect said island and maintain our
sovereignty over it.
3. METHODS USED IN FIXING THE BASELINE FROM WHICH THE TERRITORIAL BELT IS
MEASURED:
A. THE NORMAL BASELINE METHOD
The normal baseline of the territorial sea is determined using appropriate points
along the low water line of the coast. Straight baselines can be drawn joining
appropriate points along a deeply indented coastline or fringe of islands along the
coast in its immediate vicinity. Where appropriate, lines drawn using a combination
of both methods can be used.
Normal baseline points are called "normal" because they follow the natural coastal
landscape. They canbe selected on capes, headlands and islands, but are most
often located on low-tide elevations (rocks, reefs, drying sandbanks or the limit of
the low-water line). Low-tide elevations are above water at low tide and lie within 12
nautical miles of the coast or major islands.
CHS charts indicate where these low-water line points are located since the charts
vertical datum is the lower of either the low-water line from large tides or the lowest
normal tide. This zero level of the charts applies to water depths and is referred to
as chart datum. All water depth measurements collected during hydrographic
surveys are reduced to the chart datum before being included in the chart.
With Canadas irregular coastline, however, straight baselines are also used to
preserve the general trend of the coastline, to close legal bays and mouths of rivers,
or to define a fixed limit in a very dynamic environment (like a delta). Straight
baselines can only be drawn from capes, headlands, islands and low-water
elevations that support a construction permanently above water (like a lighthouse).
Lines joining the turning points of straight baselines are geodesics (the shortest
distance between two points on the surface of the Earth).
CHS is the custodian of baseline data derived from surveys and charts. However,
changes to the baseline of the Territorial Sea can only be made on the
recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The
Territorial Sea Baseline is published in regulations, made by the Governor in Council
pursuant to the Oceans Act.
b. STRAIGHT LINE BASELINE METHOD.
- To determine the extent of archipelagic waters, the archipelagic state shall draw
straight baselines connecting the outermost points of the outermost islands and

drying reefs, provided that ratio of the area of the water to the area of the land,
including atolls, is between 1:1 and 9:1. The length of such baselines shall not
exceed 100 nautical miles, except that up to 3% of the total number of baseline
enclosing any archipelago may exceed that length up to a maximum of 125 miles.
The baselines drawn should not depart, to any appreciable extent, from the general
configuration of the archipelago. All the waters within the baselines shall then be
considers as internal waters. The breadth of the 12 mile territorial sea, the
contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall then
be measured from the archipelagic baselines
Read: The Law of the Sea: Its major implications to the Philippines, by Justice Jorge R. Coquia, p.
31, Philippine Law Gazette, Vol. 8, No.1.
A. THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGIC BASELINES ACT OF 2009, RA NO. 9522