DETAINED Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday called the approval of the final version of the Senate bill on the country’s baseline a “sell-out.”
The Senate approved the bicameral conference committee report classifying Scarborough Shoal and the Kalayaan Island Groups as a “regime of islands.”
In a statement, Trillanes attributed the exclusion of Scarborough Shoal from the archipelagic baseline to “pressure” from China which, he said, has several investment and development deals with the Arroyo administration.
“The tragic part is, we have no choice but to accept it because of the approaching deadline,” Trillanes, the bill’s principal author. “Otherwise, we would be forever disqualified from claiming our extended continental shelf (ECS).”
Senate Bill No. 2699 defines the scope of the national territory in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The UN has set May 13, 2009 as the deadline for the submission of the technical details on the Philippines’ claims for the ECS, which should be based on the official baseline as enacted into law.
Trillanes’ original bill, filed in August 2007, included Scarborough Shoal in the archipelagic baseline.
Lamenting the classification of Scarborough Shoal as a “regime of islands,” Trillanes pointed out that under the UNCLOS, a rock like Scarborough Shoal is not entitled to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and ECS.
“The exclusion of Scarborough from the baselines is grossly disadvantageous to our country. We would be depriving ourselves of a sea territory with its continental shelf that is equivalent to roughly 14,500 square kilometers,” he said.
He also noted that the Scarborough Shoal is the traditional fishing ground for past and present Filipino fisherfolk. China is the other claimant to the resource-rich territory.
Trillanes clarified, however, that the designation on the Kalayaan Islands as a “regime of islands” does not weaken the country’s claim or sovereignty since islands referred to as “regime of islands” are treated the exact same way as other land territory and thus entitled to an EEZ and ECS.
Last year, Trillanes filed a resolution seeking to initiate legislative action against Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita for presiding over a Senate technical working group meeting on the bills on the Philippines’ archipelagic baseline, and eventually pushing for Malacanang’s position.
He said Ermita violated the constitutionally enshrined principle of separation of powers of the three branches of government.
“Should this (SB 2699) be signed into law, we will definitely amend it once GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) is out of power,” Trillanes said.