ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
It is defined as all waters, around between and connecting different islands b el el o ng ng in in g
to
t he he
P hi hi li li p pi pi ne ne A rc rc hi hi pe pe la la go go ,
i r re re sp sp ec ec ti ti ve ve
of
t he he ir ir
w id id th th
or
dimens dim ension ion,, are nec necess essary ary app appurt urtena enanc nces es of its lan land d ter territo ritory ry,, form forming ing an i nt nt eg eg ra ra l p ar ar t o f t he he
n at at io io na na l o r i nl nl a nd nd w at at er er s , s ub ub je je ct ct
t o t he he
e xc xc lu lu si si ve ve
sovereignty of the Philippines. It is found in the 2nd sentence of Article 1 of the 1!" #onstitution.
It emphasi$es emphasi$es the unity of the land and wate waters rs by definin defining g anarchipelago anarchipelago as group grou p of isl island ands s sur surrou rounde nded d by waters waters or a bod body y of wat waters ers studded studded with islands.
%o emphasi$e unity, an imaginary single baseline is drawn around the islands by joining appropriate points of the outermost islands of thearchipelago with str ai ght
l i ne s
and
al l
isla nds
and
waters
enclosed
within
the
baseline form part of its territory.
%he main purpose of the archipelagic doctrine is to protect the territorial inter ests
of
an ar chipelago,
that
is ,
the
territorial
integr it y
of
the archipelago. &ithout it, there would be 'poc(ets of high seas) between some of our islands and islets, thus foreign vessels would be able to pass t hr hr ou o u gh gh
t he he se se
' po po c( c( et et s
of
s ea ea s) s)
a nd nd
w ou ou ld ld
h av av e
no
j ur ur is is di di ct ct io io n
o ve ve r
them. Accordingly, if we follow the old rule of international law, it is possible that between islands, e.g. *ohol and +iuijor, due to the more than 2- mile d is is ta ta nc nc e b et et we we en en t he he 2 i s la la nd nd s, s, t he he re re m ay ay b e h ig ig h s ea ea s. s. % hu hu s, s, f o re re ig ig n vessels may just enteranytime at will, posing danger to the security of the +tate. owever, applying the doctrine, even these bodies of water within the baseline, basel ine, regard regardless less of bread breadth, th, form part of the archip archipelago elago and are thus
considered
as
internal
waters.
/ollowing the Archipelagic 0octrine, the +pratlys roup 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.
owever, the +I is part of
the Philippine territory because it was discovered by a /ilipino seaman in the name of ice ‐ Admiral #loma who later renounced his claim over it in favor of the 3epublic of the Philippines. +ubseuently, then Pres. 4arcos issued a Presidential 0ecree constituting +I as part of the Philippine territory and sending some
of
our
armed
forces
to
protect
said
island
and maintain our sovereignty over it. 4oreover, +pratlys group of Islands is considered as part of our 5ational %erritory. Article I of the #onstitution provides6 '%he national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, x x x, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, x x x.) %he +pratlys roup of islands falls under the second phrase 'and all other territories over w hi c h t he P hi li p pi ne s h as s ov er e ig nt y o r j ur i sd i ct i on ). I t i s p ar t o f o ur national territory because Philippines exercise sovereignty 7through election of public officials8 over +pratlys roup of Islands.
THE PHILIPPINES AND THE ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE Archipelago is defined as a sea or part of a sea studded with islands, often synonymous with island groups, or as a large group of islands in an extensive body of water, such as sea. (De Leon, 1991 !n various conferences of the "nited #ations on the Law of the $ea, the %hilippines and other archipelago states proposed that an archipelagic state composed of groups of islands forming a state is a single unit, with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internal waters.&y this concept (archipelagic doctrine, an archipelago shall be regarded as a single unit, so that the waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the
internal waters of the state, sub'ect to its exclusive sovereignty.
Despite the opposition of maritime powers, the %hilippines and four other states (!ndonesia, %apua #ew uinea, )i'i and &ahamas got the approval in the "# *onvention on the Law of the $ea held in +amaica last December 1, 19-. /hey were 0ualified as archipelagic states. /he archipelagic doctrine is now incorporated in *hapter ! of the said convention. !t legali2es the unity of land, water and people into a single entity
photo courtesy of gmanews.tv /he %hilippines bolstered the archipelagic principle in defining its territory when it included in Article 1 of the 19-3 *onstitution the following4 4 "The national territory comprises the Philippine Archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein xxx"; and "The waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines." 5n the strength of these assertions, the %hilippines Archipelago is considered as one integrated unit instead of being divided into more than seven thousand islands. /he outermost of our archipelago are connected with straight baselines and all waters inside the baselines are considered as internal waters. /his ma6es the large bodies of waters connecting the islands of the archipelago li6e 7indanao $ea, $ulo $ea and the $ibuyan $ea part of the %hilippines as its internal waters, similar to the rivers and la6es found within the islands themselves. /he archipelagic principle however is sub'ect to the following limitations4 a respect for the right of the ship and other states to pass through the territorial as well as archipelagic waters b respect to right of innocent passage c respect for passage through archipelagic sea lanes sub'ect to the promulgation by local authorities of pertinent rules and regulations.
