Retired SC Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza. (NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza on Monday reiterated his appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent his proposal for a new baselines law to better enforce the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral win against China.
“We appeal to the President … we’re hoping that he pays attention to amending the baselines law, especially on his upcoming and final State of the Nation Address,” Jardeleza said during the online forum “How to Break a Five-Year National Impasse.”
Jardeleza stressed that the existing baselines do not clarify the “metes and bounds” of the island features that the country is claiming in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“We proposed to the President to consider the new baselines law, [which] is a long standing law that defines the metes and bounds or the measurement of all the features that we are claiming in the WPS,” the former justice said.
He emphasized the importance of amending the baselines law as he cited the recent incidents involving the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and foreign vessels caught within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The country’s EEZ
On June 30, PCG authorities shooed away five Chinese and two Vietnamese fishing vessels near Marie Louise Bank, 272.24 kilometers off El Nido town in Palawan province, in another daring act to protect the country’s EEZ.
In May, the PCG also issued a radio challenge to seven Chinese vessels at Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese ships dispersed afterward.
“How can they tell the intruding vessels that they are in our country’s waters? South China Sea is very wide. I think [those incidents] are good examples why now is the time to amend the law,” Jardeleza said.
Name maritime features
He submitted a letter to Mr. Duterte on June 5, urging the latter to certify to Congress the proposed legislation to amend RA 9522 and certify to Congress an appropriation to enforce the award “by way of defending our rightful gains under the award and international law.”
The former justice, who was part of the Philippines’ legal team behind the arbitration, maintained that a new law to amend the Baselines Law would be “the most inexpensive and yet most effective means of enforcing the Arbitral Award and strengthening our territorial and maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea.”
Jardeleza’s proposal will amend Republic Act No. 9522, the current Baselines Law, to specifically name and identify at least a hundred maritime features in the West Philippine Sea and some 35 offshore rock or high-tide features. It also reiterated the country’s continuing sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, as appropriate over these features.
Jardeleza earlier said that the proposed changes to the law “ensures that the Philippines is the first claimant over the Spratly chain of islands to legislate the individual names and baselines of the claimed features.”
The proposed legislation was crafted by Jardeleza with international law scholars Dr. Melissa Loja and Professor Romel Bagares.
Asked if the country’s claim to its maritime territory will not be affected by the change in administration with the upcoming elections next year, Bagares said the change in government does not actually change the treatment from the point of view of international law. INQ