Lawyers group backs Marcos WPS policy

IBP

THE foremost organization of Philippine lawyers, supported the stand of the Marcos government to assert the country's legal and sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement issued over the weekend, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) cited the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and the Spanish-United States Treaty of Washington in 1900 as the basis for its argument.

The IBP said Article III of the Treaty of Paris "clearly delineated the territorial boundaries of the Philippine archipelago" when Spain ceded to the US all rights of sovereignty over the Philippines, including the waters surrounding the islands.

The Spanish-US Treaty of Washington supplemented this by clarifying and affirming the cession of additional islands to the US as part of Philippine territory, it said.

The Treaty of Washington documented Spain's cession to the US "of any and all islands of the Philippine Archipelago lying outside of the lines described in Article III of the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898."

"When the Philippines gained independence, all these islands covered by the Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Washington that form part of the Philippine archipelago became part of our country's territory," it said.

The IBP also cited the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (Unclos), to which both the Philippines and China are signatories.

Unclos granted coastal states sovereign rights over their exclusive economic zones (EEZs), extending up to 200 nautical miles from their baselines, it pointed out.

The IBP supported its stance with the 2016 decision issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration confirming the Philippines has sovereign rights over its EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.

"This decision clarified that the Philippines shall enjoy all economic rights within its EEZ, including fishing, resource exploration and marine conservation," it noted.

The IBP said Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) is just about 120 miles from Zambales and is a traditional fishing ground for Filipino fishermen, while Ayungin (Second Thomas Shoal) Shoal is just about 196 miles to Palawan and is where the derelict BRP Sierra Madre serves as a military outpost.

"In this regard, the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates the protection of the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially those from local communities, to preferential use of communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore," the group said, citing Article XIII, Section 7 of the constitution.

This protection, it pointed out, extends to offshore fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen against foreign intrusion, the IBP said in the statement signed by the 26th Board of Governors headed by its national president Antonio Oido.