SC upholds baselines law By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/17/2011

SC upholds baselines law

By Benjamin B. Pulta 08/17/2011

A ruling by the Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the constitutionality of the two year old l Baselines Law (Republic Act 9522) which critics said undermines the country’s claim over the contested Kalayaan Group of Islands.

The SC en banc through a decision by Senior Justice Antonio Carpio dismissed for lack of merit the petition filed by a group, led by international law experts Merlin Magallona and Harry Roque Jr. seeking to stop implementation of the law.

The petitioners claim the law had radically revised the definition of the Philippine archipelago resulting in the loss of at least 15,000 square nautical miles of the country’s territorial waters and claimed that RA 9522, which was an amendment of RA 3046 (the old Baselines Law),redefined the Philippine territory as having a roughly triangular shape, excluding much of the waters that were previously within the territory defined by the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which described the territory as rectangular about 600 miles wide and 1,200 miles long.

They also stressed that it also converted the country’s internal waters into “archipelagic waters” through standards under the United Nations Law of the Sea (UNCLoS) that uses the straight baselines method in delineating the national territory..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20110817nat4.html