Bicameral panel OKs Philippine Maritime Zones Bill

July 17, 2024 , 06:50 PM

By Clarist Mae Zablan

(July 17, 2024) – A bicameral conference committee on Wednesday approved the reconciled version of the Philippine Maritime Zones Bill, aimed at codifying the maritime zones under the country’s jurisdiction.

Sen. Francis Tolentino, the chairperson of the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, said the measure that he principally authored aims to give clarity to the boundary and entitlements of the country over its waters.

“Maliwanag ‘yung karapatan natin kung saan ‘yung ating boundary. Maliwanag ‘yung na may batas tayo kung saan pwede maglayag, pwedeng mangisda,” Tolentino told reporters.

The bicameral conference committee reconciled conflicting provisions in the House and Senate version of the bill on internal waters and archipelagic waters, he said. The bicameral version also included provisions on Palawan and the Philippine Rise.

Another member of the bicameral panel, 3rd District Negros Occidental Rep. Kiko Benitez, said the measure is “overdue,” stressing the need to “assert the extent of our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction” under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act is among the priority bills of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

Some lawmakers have been pushing for the measure as the Philippines’ relations with China grew tense over their conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway, which also overlaps with the claims of Malaysia and Vietnam. A 2016 arbitral award found Beijing’s expansive claims to have no legal basis, a ruling that the East Asian country has rejected.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last month, Pres. Bongbong Marcos said he looks forward to signing the maritime zones bill into law.

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