Voting 22-0, the Senate passed on third and final reading on Tuesday, Aug. 13, the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Bill (Senate Bill No. 2665), a landmark measure that aims to strengthen the country's territorial integrity and national security.

“With the passage of this measure, Congress has moved a step closer in putting our archipelagic house in order,” stressed Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, the principal author, and sponsor of SBN 2665.

“Designating ASLs will solidify the country's maritime domain and prevent arbitrary passage in the Philippine archipelago by foreign vessels and aircraft,” he noted.

“We will be able to better monitor the movement of foreign vessels and aircraft and ask them to leave should they pose a threat to our peace and order, and national security,” he added.

The senator said passing the measure together with the Philippine Maritime Zones Act are made more urgent in view of the frequency and severity of the aggressive behaviors of China.

“While before, their aggression was only limited within the waters at the West Philippine Sea, just recently, on August 8…two aircraft of the People's Liberation Army Air Force performed dangerous maneuvers and dropped flares near a Philippine Air Force aircraft conducting a maritime patrol over Bajo de Masinloc,” Tolentino noted.

He explained that the designation of ASLs is a discretion that the Philippines, as an archipelago and a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), may exercise under Article 53 of the international agreement.

SBN 2665 defines ASLs as “designated sea lanes in the archipelagic waters and air routes thereabove through which foreign vessels may exercise the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage.”

The measure also defines the “right of innocent passage,” as the “continuous and expeditious passage of foreign vessels through the territorial sea that is not prejudicial to the peace, good order, or security of the Philippines.”

Finally, Tolentino expressed confidence that the country could derive economic benefits in managing its ASLs.