TURNING POINT: On Mouthing Ignorance

NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 19 February) – Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who is gunning to become a senator of the country, betrayed his ignorance of our recent history in saying that the West Philippine Sea is merely a fabrication of the Philippine government. He is not worthy of the higher position he is aiming at.

Said pronouncement amounts to his disowning of the territory of the country, which could be equivalent to disloyalty and treason. An elected lawmaker ought to educate himself, especially on matters affecting the interest of the land. He should have the facts before opening his mouth.

For his education as well as to his colleagues who are similarly situated, here’s some light of history that could be of help to their business of lawmaking.

On September 5, 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed Administrative Order No. 29, renaming South China Sea waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) West Philippine Sea.

The areas include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within, and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

According to AO 29, the Philippines exercises sovereign rights under the principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to explore and exploit, conserve and manage the natural resources, whether living or nonliving, both renewable and nonrenewable, of the seabed, including the subsoil and the adjacent waters; and to conduct other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of its maritime domain, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds.

The West Philippine Sea (WPS) is real, not a mere figment of imagination.  On July 12, 2016, the Hague Arbitration Tribunal affirmed Aquino’s order by declaring that the 200 nautical miles of water from the baselines of the Philippines is its EEZ. The ruling debunked and nullified China’s claim of the area, including its nine-line augmentation of the claim. Its land reclamation projects and other activities in the Philippine waters are deemed unlawful under the UNCLOS.

The Hague Tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.

The tribunal concluded that China doesn’t have the right to resources within its “nine-dash line,” which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island-province of Hainan and covers some 90% of the disputed waters.

The lawmakers may now enact laws to protect our rich marine resources and secure our sovereign territory.

(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)