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MANILA, Philippines–Malacañang on Thursday said President Benigno Aquino III’s order renaming the waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone as West Philippine Sea would not require the amendment of the Archipelagic Baselines Law.
Signed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2009 and upheld by the Supreme Court last year, the Archipelagic Baselines Law defines the borders of the Philippines, but does not cover the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratly archipelago and Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.
The law classifies those islands that the Philippines disputes with China as a “regime of islands” in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
On Sept. 5, Aquino signed Administrative Order No. 29 renaming the waters in the Luzon Sea and the waters “around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group” and the Panatag Shoal as the West Philippine Sea.
Those areas are recognized as the Philippines’ EEZ under the Unclos.
It is not clear, however, whether the Kalayaan Island Group is within the West Philippine Sea. The Palace has yet to determine whether those islands in the Spratlys that the Philippines claims are within its EEZ.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda pointed that out in a briefing for reporters at the Palace on Thursday. Renaming the area West Philippine Sea is a “regular step” for the Philippines in the exercise of sovereignty over what has always been its territory, Lacierda said.
Aquino’s order notes that as provided under the Unclos, the Philippines has sovereign rights “to explore and exploit, conserve and manage the natural resources, whether living or nonliving, both renewable and nonrenewable,” of the waters within its EEZ.
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