ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE

It is defined as all waters, around between and connecting different islands

b el
el o ng
ng in
in g to t he
he P hi
hi li
li p pi
pi ne
ne A rc
rc hi
hi pe
pe la
la go
go , i r re
re sp
sp ec
ec ti
ti ve
ve of t he
he ir
ir w id
id th
th or
dimens
dim ension
ion,, are nec
necess
essary
ary app
appurt
urtena
enanc
nces
es of its lan
landd ter
territo
ritory
ry,, form
forming
ing an
i nt
nt eg
eg ra
ra l p ar
ar t o f t he
he n at
at io
io na
na l o r i nl
nl a nd
nd w at
at er
er s , s ub
ub je
je ct
ct t o t he
he e xc
xc lu
lu si
si ve
ve
sovereignty of the Philippines. It is found in the 2nd sentence of Article 1 of 
the 1!" #onstitution.

It emphasi$es
emphasi$es the unity of the land and wate
waters
rs by definin
defining
g anarchipelago
anarchipelago as
group
group of isl
island
ands
s sur
surrou
rounde
ndedd by waters
waters or a bod
bodyy of wat
waters
ers studded
studded with
islands.

%o emphasi$e unity, an imaginary single baseline is drawn around the islands

by joining appropriate points of the outermost islands of thearchipelago with
str ai ght l i ne s and al l isla nds and waters enclosed within the
baseline form part of its territory.

%he main purpose of the archipelagic doctrine is to protect the territorial

inter ests of an ar chipelago, that is , the territorial integr it y of  
the archipelago. &ithout it, there would be 'poc(ets of high seas) between
some of our islands and islets, thus foreign vessels would be able to pass
t hr
hr ou
o u gh
gh t he
he se
se ' po
po c(
c( et
et s of s ea
ea s)
s) a nd
nd w ou
ou ld
ld h av
av e no j ur
ur is
is di
di ct
ct io
io n o ve
ve r
them. Accordingly, if we follow the old rule of international law, it is possible
that between islands, e.g. *ohol and +iuijor, due to the more than 2- mile
d is
is ta
ta nc
nc e b et
et we
we en
en t he
he 2 i s la
la nd
nd s,
s, t he
he re
re m ay
ay b e h ig
ig h s ea
ea s.
s. % hu
hu s,
s, f o re
re ig
ig n
vessels may just enteranytime at will, posing danger to the security of the
+tate. owever, applying the doctrine, even these bodies of water within the
baseline,
basel ine, regard
regardless
less of bread
breadth,
th, form part of the archip
archipelago
elago and are thus
considered as internal waters.

/ollowing the Archipelagic 0octrine, the +pratlys roup of 

Islands is not part of Philippine archipelago. It is too far to be
included within the archipelagic lines encircling the internal
waters of Philippine Archipelago. owever, the +I is part of 
the Philippine territory because it was discovered by a /ilipino
seaman in the name of ice ‐ Admiral #loma who later renounced
his claim over it in favor of the 3epublic of the Philippines.
  +ubseuently, then Pres. 4arcos issued a Presidential 0ecree
constituting +I as part of the Philippine territory and sending
some of our armed forces to protect said island
and maintain our sovereignty over it.

4oreover, +pratlys group of Islands is considered as part of our 5ational

%erritory. Article I of the #onstitution provides6 '%he national territory
comprises the Philippine archipelago, x x x, and all other territories over
which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, x x x.) %he +pratlys
roup of islands falls under the second phrase 'and all other territories over
w hi c h t he P hi li p pi ne s h as s ov er e ig nt y o r j ur i sd i ct i on ). I t i s p ar t o f o ur
national territory because Philippines exercise sovereignty 7through election
of public officials8 over +pratlys roup of Islands.

THE PHILIPPINES AND THE

 ARCHIPELAGIC DOCTRINE
 Archipelago is defined as a sea or part of a sea studded with islands, often synonymous with island
groups, or as a large group of islands in an extensive body of water, such as sea. (De Leon, 1991

!n various conferences of the "nited #ations on the Law of the $ea, the %hilippines and other archipelago
states proposed that an archipelagic state composed of groups of islands forming a state is a single unit,
with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internal waters.&y this concept (archipelagic
doctrine, an archipelago shall be regarded as a single unit, so that the waters around, between, and
connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the
  photo courtesy of gmanews.tv 

/he %hilippines bolstered the archipelagic principle in defining its territory when it included in Article 1 of
the 19-3 *onstitution the following4
4
"The national territory comprises the Philippine Archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced 
therein xxx"; and

"The waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their 
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines." 

5n the strength of these assertions, the %hilippines Archipelago is considered as one integrated unit
instead of being divided into more than seven thousand islands. /he outermost of our archipelago are
connected with straight baselines and all waters inside the baselines are considered as internal waters.
/his ma6es the large bodies of waters connecting the islands of the archipelago li6e 7indanao $ea, $ulo
$ea and the $ibuyan $ea part of the %hilippines as its internal waters, similar to the rivers and la6es
found within the islands themselves.

/he archipelagic principle however is sub'ect to the following limitations4

a respect for the right of the ship and other states to pass through the territorial as well as archipelagic
waters
b respect to right of innocent passage
c respect for passage through archipelagic sea lanes sub'ect to the promulgation by local authorities of
pertinent rules and regulations.