Philippines wants UN to extend its underwater boundary in WPS
The Philippines has officially asked the United Nations to extend the country's underwater boundary in the western part of Palawan amid China's massive claim and illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York, submitted on Saturday the information to the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to register the country’s entitlement to an extended continental shelf in the West Palawan Region in the West Philippine Sea.
It noted that "under Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a coastal State such as the Philippines is entitled to establish the outer limits of its continental shelf comprising the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas extending beyond 200 nautical miles (NM) but not to exceed 350 NM from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured."
Assistant Foreign Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Marshall Louis Alferez emphasized that the submission is a declaration not only of the Philippines’ maritime entitlements under UNCLOS but also of the country’s commitment to the responsible application of its processes.
He also underscored the significance of the submission in securing the Philippines’ sovereign rights and maritime jurisdictions in the West Philippine Sea, noting that the 2016 Award on the South China Sea Arbitration confirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements and rejected those that exceeded geographic and substantive limits under UNCLOS.
“Incidents in the waters tend to overshadow the importance of what lies beneath”, he said.
“The seabed and the subsoil extending from our archipelago up the maximum extent allowed by UNCLOS hold significant potential resources that will benefit our nation and our people for generations to come. Today we secure our future by making a manifestation of our exclusive right to explore and exploit natural resources in our ECS entitlement," he added.
The submission was made following the continues illegal activities and aggressive actions by Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea which include destruction of marine ecosystem, used of water cannons and the conduct of dangerous maneuvers to prevent the rotation and resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for its troops station in a grounded Philippine Navy ship in Ayungin Shoal.
Alferez also added that the Philippine submission does not prejudice discussions with relevant coastal States that may have legitimate ECS claims measured from their respective lawful baselines under UNCLOS.
“We consider our submission as a step in discussing delimitation matters and other forms of cooperation moving forward. What is important is that the Philippines puts on record the maximum extent of our entitlement," he said.
Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo, Permanent Representative of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York also stressed that the submission “can reinvigorate efforts of States to demonstrate their readiness to pursue UNCLOS processes in the determination of maritime entitlements and promote a rules based international order.”
The DFA noted "the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA) led the Extended Continental Shelf Technical Working Group (ECS-TWG) that worked on the submission for over a decade and a half."
NAMRIA Administrator Peter Tiangco welcomed the official ECS submission and thanked the ECS-TWG for their work in gathering and processing of data on geodetic and hydrographic information, and geophysical and geological information to substantiate the submission.
According to the DFA, this is the second time the Philippines has made a submission on an ECS entitlement after the Philippines made a partial submission on the Philippine Rise in April 2009, which the CLCS validated in 2012, resulting in an additional 135,506 square kilometers of seabed area for the Philippines.
It noted that in its first submission, the Philippines stated that it reserved the right to make submissions in other areas in the future. ?
"The first submission was also undertaken by the ECS-TWG, an inter-agency body composed of technical, legal, diplomatic, political, and law enforcement experts from several Philippine offices and agencies, including NAMRIA, DFA, Department of Justice, Department of Energy, National Security Council, Department of Environment and Natural Resources ? Mines and Geosciences Bureau, University of the Philippines (UP) Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, UP National Institute of Geological Sciences, the former National Coast Watch Council Secretariat, Department of National Defense, Office of the Solicitor General and Philippine Coast Guard," said DFA. Robina Asido/DMS
