The passage of the proposed law on maritime zones would help the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to clearly strengthen the defined zones in the country’s maritime jurisdictions.
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said this on Monday, October 23 during the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, when Sen. Francis Tolentino asked the relevance of the pending measures to the collision that happened the other day at the Ayungin Shoal.
Tolentino was referring to the collision incident the other day when a China Coast Guard vessel carried out another “dangerous maneuvers” at the area and caused it to collide with an AFP-contracted boat doing a resupply mission.
“I think the passage of the Maritime Zone (bill) will help the Philippine Coast Guard as a law enforcing agency and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in clearly identifying the maritime zones of the Philippines,” Tarriela said.
“With respect with the incident that happened in Ayungin Shoal which posed within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of our country, I think the passage of a maritime zone bill will clearly strengthen our defined zones in our maritime jurisdiction, sir,” he further said.
Asked if a maritime zones law for the Philippines would enable other countries to adhere and comply to respect the country, not just the territory, but maritime safety as well, Tarriela said he would like to believe so.
“I would like to believe that countries in the region and other claimant states in the South China Sea, which all of them are signatory to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), are in the obligation to respect our maritime jurisdiction if ever (we are) going to define our maritime zones,” he said.
“But of course that is a belief that we would like to carry on but obviously there are some states who would choose not to respect the provisions of the international law, particularly the UNCLOS,” he added.
“So I do not want to be that pessimistic to argue that all of then countries would respect our maritime zones even we are going to pass our own maritime zone bill,” Tarriela pointed out.
Likewise, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said he views the proposed bills on Philippine Maritime Zones “a reflection of the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS, to which more than a hundred are members.”
“And, therefore, if we have a law like this, which is essentially a reflection of an international convention where the members are comprised practically of the entire community, there is an expectation of an obligation on the part of its member states to comply with our own laws since these are, as I said, a reflection essentially of an international convention which they are members,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said.
In effect, Guevarra said the maritime zones law will be the country’s domestic version of an international agreement.
“And these are the laws of coastal states and therefore, all flagged states with vessels plying for example our maritime waters would have also a duty to comply with the laws enacted by the coastal state, like the Philippines,” he pointed out.
Tolentino acknowledged the necessity of “really tackling the bill,” including all the controversial provisions.
He admitted, however, that the contentious provision he sees pertains to the specific definition of archipelagic waters, the provision on reciprocity and on the EEZ.
In the end, Tolentino concluded the hearing and said he plans to release the committee report on the measure after all concerned government agencies have submitted their position papers on the proposed law.