Experts believe that the recent enactment of the Philippine Maritime Zones and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Laws will strengthen the country’s claim in the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a maritime security expert said on Sunday.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed on Friday new laws to declare the Philippines’ sovereign rights and entitlements over its maritime zones and to prevent arbitrary international passage.
In an exclusive interview with Manila Standard, maritime security expert Dr. Chester Cabalza said these laws are timely to fortify the Philippines’ legal and historical claims as well as align foreign vessels and planes to obey routes in archipelagic sea lanes.
“The new maritime laws would finally complete the puzzle in our legal victory from the 2016 arbitral award to the maritime zones and archipelagic sea lanes drawn from the 2019 baselines sea law and the [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] (UNCLOS) on archipelagic principle,” he said.
The twin laws complement our assertion for our national sovereignty and territorial integrity as it brings together the best practices of the traditional lawfare in the Philippines that help build fundamental frameworks on how archipelagic and maritime nations should be treated in the international community, according to him.
Cabalza noted “the rule of law and lawfare has always been the knight in shining armor of the Philippines… and the world is using it as a template in their own maritime and territorial disputes.”
As an advocate and bearer of the fruits of international laws, these domestic laws will become customary laws, which may also become part of international laws, he added.
Cabalza, also founder and president of the International Development and Security Cooperation, shared that he recently participated in Asia Collective 2024 in Jakarta, which also served as another platform for thought leaders to interact to achieve a vision of cooperation in the region.
He said Chinese and Filipino speakers have also suggested alternative mechanisms to lower the tensions in the WPS.
For his part, lawyer Antonio La Viña said that while the enactment is long overdue, “it is better late than never” such that he is urging the government to continue doing the right thing.
The passing of the laws is an implementation of the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is consistent with the country’s position in the 2016 Arbitral Ruling, La Viña underscored.
However, the modernization programs of the Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy are still necessary to put us in a better situation.
Likewise, he stressed that a peace agreement with the communist is also important so that the military is not divided and not fighting fellow countrymen.
La Viña is one of the four Filipinos appointed by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in January this year.
