House ratifies PH Archipelagic Sea Lanes Bill, awaits Marcos signature for enactment

The House of Representatives on Monday ratified the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Bill and now waits for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s signature for it to be enacted.

This means that the bill, which allows the President to establish the archipelagic sea lanes in Philippine waters as well prescribe obligations of foreign ships and aircraft in such lanes, is only awaiting the signature of the President to become a law since the Senate already ratified the measure last week.

Pangasinan Representative Maria Rachel Arenas, chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and head of the House contingent in the bicameral conference committee on the measure, said the bill will strengthen the country's maritime governance and security.

“This [bill] balances the Philippines’ national interest and the right of the international community as provided in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” Arenas said in a statement.

“The protection of our maritime domain has never been more critical. The establishment of archipelagic sea lanes within our waters, as mandated by the UNCLOS, is essential to safeguard the integrity of our national territory while maintaining our commitments under international law,” Arenas added.

Likewise, Arenas cited the measure provides clear cut guidelines for the passage of foreign ships and aircraft through the Philippine archipelagic waters to ensure that such passage does not undermine national security or disturb the peace and order.

The Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes bill is one of the priority measures of the Marcos administration.

The UNCLOS provides that 200 nautical miles of territorial sea of a country is considered its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The UNCLOS provision is the anchor of the Philippines government’s case when it filed a case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2013 over repeated Chinese aggression within the Philippines’ EEZ in the South China Sea, a portion of which is called the West Philippine Sea by Manila.

The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea and upheld the Philippines' EEZ.

Likewise, the same Hague decision ruled that the Ayungin Shoal, the Spratly Islands, Panganiban or Mischief Reef, and Recto or Reed Bank are within the Philippines’ EEZ. Moreover, the Hague court outlawed Chinese aggression in the Philippines’ EEZ by stating that Scarborough Shoal, a rich marine resource, is a common fishing ground.

China, however, refuses to recognize the court ruling to this day and is undeterred in deploying aggression against Philippine vessels and personnel.—RF, GMA Integrated News