PREAMBLE AND THE NATIONAL TERRITORY

1. PREAMBLE AND THE
NATIONAL TERRITORY

2. PREAMBLE- introductory paragraph of the constitution
- including a preamble in the constitution is optional
- Purposes of the Preamble
1. It declares by whom and for whom the constitution was adapted.
2. It enumerates the reasons why the constitution was created.
ARTICLE I - THE NATIONAL TERRITORY
Territorial provision in the constitution is optional.
The national territory is compose of 3 parts/domains
1. Terrestrial [land]
2. Fluvial [water]
3. Aerial [air]

3. ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
• - an archipelago shall be regarded as one geographic ,economic and political unit.
• - it is used by drawing an imaginary line connecting the outer most islands of the
archipelago [commonly referred to as baseline]
• - all land surfaces located inside the baseline are part of Philippine land territory
• - Internal waters are bodies of waters within the baseline
• -Territorial sea are bodies of water measured seaward to a distance of 12NM from the
baseline
• -seabed is the land that holds or supports the bodies of water/ground under the sea
• -subsoil is the land beneath the earth’s surface
• -insular shelves are parts of the island that remain under shallow water.
• - Contiguous zone are the bodies of water measured seaward to a distance of 24NM from
the baseline
• -Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ] extends up to 200 NM from the baseline as a result of the
UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ]

6. Territorial disputes involving the Philippines
1] Kalayaan group of islands / Spratly Islands [Philippines ; Malaysia ; Brunei;
China ; Taiwan and Vietnam] these islands are disputed due to unexplored oil
reserves and natural gas
• The basis of the Philippine claim over Spratlys is the discovery and occupation
made by a Filipino navigator named Tomas Cloma in 1956. IN 1974 , Cloma
was arrested and forced to sign a document conveying to the Philippines
whatever rights he has in the territory for one peso.
• On June 11,1978 , Pres. Marcos issued PD 1596 officially declaring this
territory as ours.
• All islands that we claimed lie within our 200NM and China is not
archipelagic

7. 2. Sabah /North Borneo[Philippines and Malaysia ]
• The Sultanate of Brunei ceded Sabah to the Sultanate of Sulu as a prize for
helping the Sultan of Brunei quell a rebellion against him in 1658.
• A lease of contract between the Sultanate of Sulu and 2 foreigners [Mr.
Overbeck and Mr. Dent] representing the Private British company in 1878
ensured that the rights to ownership to Sabah of the Sultanate of Sulu were
protected [“pajak” means rent not cede]
• The lease of contract states that it will be forever assigned to the Private British
Company and its heirs but cannot be transferred to another company/country.
• Contract is clearly non-transferrable, so transferring it to the British Gov’t. and
later to Malaysia is an outright violation and definitely a breach of contract was
committed making it null and void.
• United Nations sponsored a referendum claiming the use of the right to self-
determination to identify the rightful owner of Sabah. The result was in favor of
Malaysia but Pres. Marcos protested UN’s action.

8. • - The phrase “ and all other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic
right or legal title” was included in the 1973 Constitution to emphasize the
claim.
• In 2013, supporters of Sultan Kiram sailed to Sabah to assert the claim and
demand higher compensation.
3. Scarborough Shoal /Bajo de Masinloc / Panatag Shoal
- In 2016 , the Philippines won its case filed in the International Court against
China. The court declared that China’s nine-dash line claim in the entire
South China Sea was invalid. West Phil. Sea is the designation by the
Philippine government of the eastern parts of the South China Sea which are
included in the Philippines’ EEZ.
- In 2012, 8 Chinese fishing vessels were apprehended by the Phil. Navy in the
Panatag Shoal. The trawlers made a distress call to Chinese authorities
causing the stand off.