• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Stressing that the Maritime Zones Law is long overdue, Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez said he is looking forward to its signing into law by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after its final version was approved by the bicameral conference committee Wednesday (July 17).
The bicameral conference committee discussed the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 2492 and House Bill No. 7819, which sought to define the internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial seas, contiguous zones, continental shelves and all other territories under Philippine jurisdiction, as well as the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Authored by Benitez in the House of Representatives, the final version of the proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act includes Palawan and the Philippine Rise.
“We urgently need a law delineating our maritime domains to assert the extent of our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” Benitez said in a statement.
The UNCLOS is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities.
The Negros lawmaker said that the passage of the Maritime Zones Act will strengthen the Philippines assertion of maritime entitlements over West Philippine Sea, Philippine Rise, which is part of its EEZ, and extended continental shelf, including West Palawan region and such other maritime areas covered by future submissions to the United Nations.
This also provides the foundation for two important maritime governance bills passed by the House and pending in the Senate, the designation of archipelagic sea lanes and the Blue Economy Bill, which mandates maritime spatial planning, Benitez said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the proposed law is a “crucial step” in putting the country’s “archipelagic house in order” and in harmonizing domestic law with the UNCLOS.
Senate Majority Leader Senator Francis Tolentino, who is the bill’s principal author in the Senate, said “this is a milestone not only in clarifying the country’s maritime boundaries but also in reaffirming its rights over its waters.”
Once enacted, the measure is expected to declare the country’s maritime zones based on the standards set by the UNCLOS and eventually the 2016 Arbitral Ruling, which itself was also based on UNCLOS.
Tolentino was joined by Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian in representing the Senate contingent during the bicameral conference meeting.
The House panel was represented by Benitez, Pangasinan Third District Rep. Maria Rachel Arenas, and Rizal Second District Rep. Emigdio Tanjuatco III. | GB with PNA reports
