Republic Act No.

9522
PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGIC BASELINES LAW

AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3046, AS

AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5466, AN ACT DEFINING THE BASELINES OF THE
TERRITORIAL SEA OF THE PHILIPPINES.

(Enacted into Law on March 10, 2009)

RA 9522 essentially declares the Philippines as an archipelagic state, under the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The law specifically
defines the archipelagic baselines of the Philippines by clearly establishing the 101
basepoints of the archipelago and the locations and specific geographical
coordinates of each, as well as the distances between them with the use of the
straight baselines method in delineating the national territory.

The Philippines needs to establish archipelagic baselines mainly to ensure the

national security and territorial integrity of the more than 7,100 islands and waters
comprising the Philippine archipelago and to enable the Philippines to establish the
different maritime zones that the archipelago is entitled under UNCLOS and
consequently optimize the economic potential of the resources found in these areas.

The Baselines Law declares the Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal
as mere regimes of islands, which the Philippines exercises sovereignty and
jurisdiction. As regime of islands, these islands still remain as part of the countrys
national territory.

The Act is limited primarily to the technical adjustments of the baselines and does
not touch on the definition or redefinition of the character of the Philippine National
Territory. Therefore, the Act does not contravene any provision of the Constitution. It
in fact adopts the provisions of UNCLOS on territorial sea, which is incongruent with
the breadth of the Philippine territorial sea under the Treaty of Paris.

How are Philippine maritime zones determined?

The delineation of baselines is the set of geodesic lines completely encircling

the main Philippine archipelago from where the territorial sea and other maritime
entitlements of the country are measured from. All the waters around, between, and
connecting various islands of Philippine archipelago form part of the internal water of
the Philippines.

From the baselines, all the waters beyond the outermost islands of the
archipelago comprise the territorial sea of the Philippines which is 12 nautical miles.
Also, the breadth of the exclusive economic zone that the Philippines is entitled
under UNCLOS is determined to extend outward from the baselines by 200 nautical
miles. By acquiring sovereignty or jurisdiction over these maritime zones, Philippines
acquires the exclusive right to explore and exploit all the natural resources and their
economic potentials found in the various maritime zones.

Prepared by: ELLEN JOY D. CHAN