1935

CONSTITUTION OF THE

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Preamble

The Filipino people, imploring the aid

of Divine Providence, in order to
establish a government that shall
embody their ideals, conserve and
develop the patrimony of the nation,
promote the general welfare, and
secure to themselves and their
posterity the blessings of
independence under a regime of
justice, liberty, and democracy, do
ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.

ARTICLE I

The National Territory

Section 1. The Philippines comprises

all the territory ceded to the United
States by the Treaty of Paris
concluded between the United States
and Spain on the tenth day of
December, eighteen hundred and
ninety-eight, the limits which are set
forth in Article III of said treaty,
together with all the islands
embraced in the treaty concluded at
Washington between the United
States and Spain on the seventh day
of November, nineteen hundred, and
the treaty concluded between the
United States and Great Britain on
the second day of January, nineteen
hundred and thirty, and all territory
over which the present Government
of the Philippine Islands exercises
jurisdiction.
1973 Constitution of the Republic of
the Philippines
1973

PREAMBLE

We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence, in order to
establish a Government that shall embody our ideals, promote the general welfare,
conserve and develop the patrimony of our Nation, and secure to ourselves and our
posterity the blessings of democracy under a regime of justice, peace, liberty, and
equality, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

ARTICLE I

THE NATIONAL TERRITORY

SECTION 1. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the
islands and waters embraced therein, and all the other territories belonging to the
Philippines by historic right or legal title, including the territorial sea, the air space,
the subsoil, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and the other submarine areas over which
the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. The waters around, between, and
connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions,
form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.
The national territory in federal PH
By: Frank E. Lobrigo - @inquirerdotnet

05:05 AM January 24, 2018

A unique feature of the Philippine Constitution is the definition of the national

territory which is not usually found in constitutions of other countries.

The national territory as defined by the 1935 Constitution consisted of all the
territory ceded to the United States under the Treaty of Paris of 1898 between
America and Spain, and all the islands embraced in the Washington Treaty of 1900
between America and Spain, and the Treaty of 1930 between America and Great
Britain, and all the territory over which the government of the Philippine Islands then
exercised jurisdiction.

----

The 1973 Constitution defined national territory as comprising the Philippine

archipelago, and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic or
legal title, or over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. It also
included what came to be known under the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea (Unclos) as the archipelagic waters, or the waters around, between, and
connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions.
Under the Unclos, the archipelagic waters are considered internal waters, subject to
the right of innocent passage by foreign vessels.

The 1987 Constitution introduces a modified definition of the national territory with
the deletion of the reference to territory claimed by legal or historic title. The deleted
phrase was perceived as dropping the Philippine territorial claim over Sabah. The
1987 Constitution defines the national territory as comprising the Philippine
archipelago, the archipelagic waters, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction.

The draft of the proposed federal constitution of the Philippines prepared by the
current ruling party defines the national territory as comprising the Philippine
archipelago, the archipelagic waters, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. The proposed draft restores the Philippine
claim over Sabah with the inclusion of the islands and territorial waters claimed by
the Philippines out of historic title, and bolsters its claim over the contested regime of
islands, the Spratlys, with the phrase “by discovery, or other means recognized under
international law or conventions.”
Noticeable in the proposed provision on national territory is the inclusion of the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as defined under the Unclos. The inclusion runs afoul
of the Unclos itself, which stipulates that a littoral state exercises rights of sovereignty
over the territorial sea, limited rights of sovereignty over the contiguous zone, and
sovereign rights only over the EEZ.

There is a difference between rights of sovereignty and sovereign rights. A sovereign

right is a legal right possessed by a state which enables it to perform its official
functions for the benefit of the public. Sovereign right is attributed through authority
of law, or in the case of the EEZ, the Unclos. A sovereign right does not include law
enforcement.

The new constitution under a federal Philippines basically expands the territorial sea
beyond the 12-mile limit measured seaward from the low-water mark baselines
prescribed by the Unclos. With the inclusion of the EEZ within the national territory,
the Philippines is claiming territorial sea consisting of a 200-mile breadth measured
seaward from the low-water mark baselines. The inclusion of the EEZ within the
national territory cannot give the country better or greater rights over the EEZ than
that conferred upon it by the Unclos.

Under the pacta sunt servanda doctrine, the Philippines cannot renege on its
commitments under the Unclos, including the observance of limits to maritime zones
and entitlements. The doctrine is a customary rule of international law deemed
subsumed into Philippine domestic law pursuant to the incorporation clause of the
1987 Constitution.