Passage of Maritime Zones Act a priority in Senate — Zubiri

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri. Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire Domingo

MANILA, Philippines – In light of China’s continued incursions in the West Philippine Sea and its recent release of a standard map featuring a 10-dash line, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri disclosed that the upper chamber will ensure the passage of the Maritime Zones Act before 2023 ends.

“That is a priority of the Senate. We commit to you [that] by [the] end of the year, before December, we will deliberate it during the budget deliberations [and] we will pass the Maritime Zones Act,” said Zubiri in a mix of English and Filipino in a press conference held Thursday.

Senator Francis Tolentino, in his measure – Senate Bill No. 2294 – stated that the Maritime Zones bill’s primary objective is to declare the Philippines’ maritime zones based on the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The bill also seeks to clarify the geographical extent of the Philippine maritime domain and, at the same time, clarify the legal powers that the Philippines may exercise.

This all comes amid China’s territorial claims over nearly the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

China’s newly released standard map now asserts, through a 10-dash line,  that its territory extends through Taiwan and India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin region.

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