GOVERNMENT AND

CITIZENS IN A
GLOBALLY
INTERCONNECTED
WORLD OF STATES
MODES TO
ACQUIRE A
TERRITORY
DISCOVERY AND OCCUPATION

The following lands can be the There is effective occupation when the
subjects of discovery and following aremet:
occupation: a. That the parties occupying the
territory must have been authorized
1. Uninhabited lands
by the state for which they are acting.
2. Lands inhabited by uncivilized b. That the state must by formal act
persons evidence its intention to acquire
3. Lands discovered by a state but sovereignty over the newterritory;
which it failed to occupy for c. That there must be established within
unreasonable length oftime. a reasonable time after discovery
some government authority.

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 PRESCRIPTION

▪ It is the mode of acquiring a territory

through continuous and undisputed
exercise of sovereignty over it during
such period as is necessary to create
under the influence of historical
development the generalconviction.

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 PRESCRIPTION

➢ (1) the possession must be exercised in the form

of actual exercise of sovereign authority;
➢ (2) the possession must be peaceful and
uninterrupted;
➢ (3) the possession must be public; and
➢ (4) the possession must be for a long period of
time.
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 CESSION

➢ It is the assignment, transfer,

or yielding up of territory by
one state or government to
another.
➢ It may be in the form of saleor
donation.

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 SUBJUGATION AND ANNEXATION

➢ It is a mode of acquiring a
territory belonging to a
state by occupation and
conquest made by another
state.
➢ Also called as involuntary
cession.

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 ACCRETION

➢ It is a mode of acquiring a
territory by addition of
portions soil either or
artificial natural by
gradual deposition through
the operation of natural
causes such as the waves of
the ocean.
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 JURISDICTION

➢ The right merely pertains to the

power and authority of the
state,
➢ It is considered as the scope of
administration of the state
whether person or things.

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 LEGATION

➢ This is the power of the state to

establish relations with other
states.
➢ Active – Rightof the state to send
foreign dignitaries
➢ Passive – Receiving of such foreign
representatives or public minister

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All other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction…

➢ THE PHILIPPINES’ CLAIM OVER

SABBAH
➢ THE PHILIPPINES CLAIM OVER
SPRATLY’S GROUP OF ISLANDS

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 BASES FOR CLAIM

➢ Historical Basis
The Sultanate of Sulu was granted the territory as
a prize for helping the Sultan of Brunei against his
enemies and from then on that part of Borneo is
recognized as part of the Sultan of Sulu's
sovereignty.

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The claim over Sabbah
 BASES FOR THE CLAIM
LEGAL CLAIMBASIS
The claim was based on several historical facts and court judgement. The
lease agreement is definitely a proof otherwise there will be no basis for any
agreement if such ownership was not established at all. The contract was
between Sri Paduka Maulana Al Sultan Mohammad Jamalul Alam -
representing the sultanate as owner and sovereign of Sabah on one hand,
and that of Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent, representing the
British East India Co. (then became the North Borneo Co.), on the other as
lessee of Sabah, was executed on June 22, 1878. Though the British turned
over the possession and government of Sabah to the federation, the
Malaysians have not remised in paying the annual rental.

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Basis for the claim over the Spratly Group of Islands

➢ In 1947, Tomas Cloma, a Filipino adventurer and a fishing

magnate, found several uninhabited and unoccupied group
of islands/islets in the South China Sea This is the principal
basis for justification of Spratly islands territorial claims by
the Philippines, along with basis from 1982 UNCLOS
archipelagic doctrine. On May 11, 1956, together with 40
men, Tomas and his brother Filemon took formal possession
of the islands, lying some 380 miles west of the southern end
of Palawan and named it Freedomland.

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 ARGUMENT FOR THE CLAIM

➢ Res nullius - Spratly Group of Island does not belong

to any state when it was claimed by Thomas Cloma.
➢ Within the EEZ of the Philippines in accordance with
the 1982 United Nation’s Conventions on the Laws
of the Sea UNCLOS.

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