IT IS THE constitutional duty of the President to enforce all the laws within Philippine territory. He cannot choose to enforce some laws and shirk others. To fail with deliberation would be to court the elements of culpable violation of the constitution.
The Julian Felipe reef is part of Philippine territory. It is Philippine law that declares it so.
In 1978 Presidential Decree No. 1596 was passed declaring Julian Felipe reef a part of the local government entity called the Kalayaan Island Group. It was declared a part of the continental margin of the Philippine archipelago and therefore subject to the sovereignty of the Philippines.
This means, among others, that a person committing a crime, Filipino or not, may be arrested in application of the territoriality principle in criminal law. That is simply the Philippines asserting its jurisdiction.
A month after Chinese vessels were spotted swarming the Julian Felipe reef they are now spread out over various reefs in the West Philippine Sea.
Philippine coastal authorities have reported sightings of ships “moored, anchored and stationary” in Julian Felipe reef. They counted 115 Chinese vessels in Kenna Reef, 45 vessels in Pag-asa islands, and about 50 ships dispersed along Panganiban, Kagitingan, and Zamora reefs that are all within the Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan.
China has militarized Panganiban reef. It has created manmade islands and armed it with military-grade equipment. Chinese Navy vessels have been spotted near those islands.
As of end of March there are 258 Chinese ships in Philippine waters. The authorities claim these vessels are part of China’s maritime militia.
These militia vessels have been used to ram and intimidate local fishermen in patent violation of domestic law. The Philippine Fisheries Code was enacted to protect municipal fisherfolk against foreign intrusion in Philippine offshore fishing grounds.
The law directs agencies under the President to enforce the law in “all Philippine waters including other waters over which the Philippines has sovereignty and jurisdiction, and the country’s 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.”
Early into the Duterte administration, the Arbitral Tribunal decided that Ayungin Shoal, Panganiban Reef, and Panatag Shoal are located within 200 nautical miles from the Philippine baselines. This is where Chinese vessels are now swarming.
On the basis of the provisions of P.D. No. 1599 and the UNCLOS on the breadth of a coastal State’s exclusive economic zone, the Philippines has rightly claimed that Ayungin Shoal, Panganiban Reef, and Panatag Shoal are all part of the Philippine EEZ.
Under Article I of the 1987 Constitution, an area over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction is considered part of the national territory of the Philippines.
Not only have the Chinese deterred our fishermen by swarming, the Arbitral Tribunal also found that Chinese fishermen and foreign entities engaged by Chinese authorities committed several acts that violate the Fisheries Code.
The Chinese have harvested vulnerable and endangered species, used cyanide and dynamite, and illegally constructed structures and islands which would surely not escape prosecution had they been committed by locals. The damage to the maritime ecosystem is unimaginable.
In the face of all this tribulation President Rodrigo Duterte has consistently said he is “inutile” and “cannot do anything” against Beijing’s pursuit of territory and resources in the South China Sea.
“China is claiming it, we are claiming it. China has the arms. We do not have it so it’s simple as that. They are in possession of the property… So what can we do? We have to go to war, and I cannot afford it. Maybe some other President can, but I cannot,” Duterte said, which the Chinese have obviously interpreted to be further encouragement to swarm not only Philippine EEZ but territory as well.
Justice Antonio Carpio has described the President’s reaction as “childish mentality.” He said that “a country cannot just fold up and give up just because the other side is stubborn.” Sounds more like blunting executive power under the Constitution./PN
