ASEANEWS HEADLINE-ASIA GEOPOLITICS | Philippines strengthens claim, files WPS map at UN
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PH presents claims on extended continental shelf in West PH Sea before UN | ANC
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(UPDATE) THE Philippines has notified the international community of the normal baselines and geographic extent of its authority and jurisdiction over Scarborough Shoal by depositing its official nautical chart with the United Nations Secretariat, a move aimed at strengthening transparency and legal certainty over the country’s maritime entitlements.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippines deposited the official nautical chart on July 29 pursuant to Article 16 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which requires coastal states to publicize official charts or geographic coordinates showing the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
By placing the chart on deposit with the UN Secretary-General, the Philippines ensures that its official maritime information becomes part of the public international record under Unclos.
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The Chinese Coast Guard has installed a floating barrier in the southern portion of Bajo de Masinloc, a traditional fishing ground off the coast of Zambales
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China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, denounced the Philippine action Saturday.
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Bajo de Masinoc and Approach
The Philippine delegation was led by Ambassador Enrique Manalo, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who presented Namria Chart 1567, titled “Bajo de Masinloc and Approach,” to Alice Hicuburundi, deputy director of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
Joining Manalo were National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria) Administrator Undersecretary Peter Tiangco, along with senior officials and legal experts from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General, Namria, and the University of the Philippines.
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Prepared by Namria using internationally recognized hydrographic and geodetic standards, the chart depicts the normal baselines of Bajo de Masinloc, as well as the outer limits of its territorial sea and contiguous zone, in accordance with Unclos and Philippine law.
The DFA said Bajo de Masinloc, known internationally as Scarborough Shoal, has long been an integral part of Philippine territory.
Under the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and consistent with Articles 3, 33, and 121 of Unclos, as well as the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, the feature generates a territorial sea extending up to 12 nautical miles from its normal baselines and a contiguous zone extending from 12 to 24 nautical miles.
Officials said the deposit formally informs the international community of the Philippines’ maritime baselines and the extent of its applicable authority and jurisdiction over the area while making the country’s official hydrographic information publicly accessible through the United Nations.
The DFA also underscored the significance of the deposit amid the growing challenges posed by climate change and sea-level rise, noting that preserving official nautical charts and baseline information with the United Nations helps establish a permanent and internationally recognized legal record of maritime entitlements under international law.
The Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to the rule of law, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the primacy of Unclos as the comprehensive legal framework governing activities in the world’s oceans and seas.
Close quarters: Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra encounters two Chinese Coast Guard ships blocking its path on Aug. 22, while sailing to Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (AFP/Ted Aljibe)
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Chinese denunciation
China denounced the Philippines’ claims of its jurisdiction over Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, calling it a “grave infringement of its territorial sovereignty.
In a statement Saturday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the move violated international law, citing the Unclos.
“The Philippines’ delimitation of the so-called “baselines of the territorial sea” of China’s territory of Huangyan Dao (Huangyan Island) is a grave infringement upon China’s territorial sovereignty,” the statement said.
“It is illegal, null and void. China firmly rejects and will never accept it,” it added.
In a separate statement, the Chinese Embassy slammed Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea spokesman Jay Tarriela for spreading “recycled accusations.”
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The statement comes after Tarriela criticized the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan for saying that China’s military development was “defensive in nature” and that they “will never seek hegemony or expansion.”
“So, the harassment and intimidation of Filipino fishermen by Chinese maritime forces — was that just a form of defense?” Tarriela asked in Filipino in a social media post.
Tarriela further challenged Beijing’s narrative by highlighting the increasing militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea and acts of aggression against neighboring Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy said Tarriela’s remarks rely on a “familiar combination of selective storytelling, recycled accusations, and logical fallacies.”
Photo shows the 165-meter China Coast Guard ship 5901, known as ‘the Monster’ for its size, which joined CCG ship 5203 during a brief intrusive patrol into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone west of Panatag Shoal early yesterday. The location and movement of the vessels are shown in an image posted on X by SeaLight director Ray Powell.
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“The louder the rhetoric, the thinner the facts. Mr. Jay Tarriela has once again rushed to the forefront, eager to lecture China on its foreign and defense policies while attacking the Chinese Embassy’s normal diplomatic activities,” said Deputy Spokesman Guo Wei of the Chinese Embassy.
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