Zambales town lays claim to Scarborough Shoal

IBA, Zambales—The provincial government is supporting the claim of a Zambales town to a disputed area in the West Philippine Sea, which it says is within its territorial boundary and is a historic part of this province.

Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II said the provincial board on June 6 endorsed the claim of Masinloc town to the Scarborough shoal, locally known as “Bajo de Masinloc,” to “strengthen the claim of the Philippines to that area.”

Masinloc’s claim is contained in Resolution No.62-11, approved by the town council on March 16. Masinloc Mayor Desiree Edora signed the resolution.

Lacbain said the dispute over the Spratly Islands has led Masinloc to assert its claim over the area because, “after all, if that area belongs to the Philippines, then it must be part of some province, or a town.”

“In this case, that area belongs to Zambales, and the town of Masinloc,” Lacbain said.

He said that in view of the dispute over the Spratly Islands, “the boundary for Masinloc right now is the San Salvador Islands, which is just 15 km away the town.”

According to Lacbain, the Scarborough shoal is about 200 km from Masinloc. “[And under] Republic Act 9522, all the waters from the town to that area is owned by the Philippines, in particular, the province of Zambales,” he said.

Lacbain said Masinloc had a “historic claim” to the area, which was cited in RA 9522, the law that defined the archipelagic baseline of the Philippines.

Voting 7-5 with one abstention, the provincial board endorsed Masinloc’s claim in a session on June 6.

Lacbain said provincial board members who voted against the resolution told their colleagues that they wanted the dispute over the islands scattered in the Western Philippine Sea resolved first before they endorse Masinloc’s claim over Scarborough shoal.

The Masinloc resolution described the shoal as “a triangle shaped chain of reefs and islands (but mostly rocks) 55 km around with an area of 150 km. It has a lagoon with [an] area of 130 square km and depth of about 15 meters.”

It said many of the reefs “are just below water at high tide, while near the mouth of the lagoon are ruins of an iron tower, 8.3 meters high.”

Lacbain stressed the importance of asserting the claim over Scarborough shoal “because there might be a large deposit of oil and minerals in those areas.”

“If Masinloc owns that, then [residents here can benefit] if the Philippine government [taps the natural resources available there],” he said.