National Territory Of The Philippines Essay Example

the ROC deployed a naval task force to occupy the islands and establish a base on Itu Aba, which it currently still maintains. Tomas Cloma and the Philippines also asserted their claims over the islands, with Cloma even traveling to New York in October 1956 to plead his case before the United Nations. By 1968, the Philippines had stationed troops on three islands in order to safeguard the citizens of Kalayaan.

In the early months of 1971, the Philippines sent a diplomatic note to Taipei on behalf of Cloma, demanding the withdrawal of the ROC from Itu Aba. On July 10 of the same year, Ferdinand Marcos declared the annexation of Kalayaan, a group of 53 islands. However, neither Cloma nor Marcos provided clear details on which specific fifty three features constituted Kalayaan. Consequently, the Philippines began asserting claims on as many features as possible. In April 1972, Kalayaan was officially incorporated into Palawan province and was governed as a single "poblacion" (township) under the leadership of Tomas Cloma as the town council Chairman. By 1992, there were twelve registered voters on Kalayaan.

In 1977, the Philippines made an unsuccessful attempt to land troops on Itu Aba, which was countered by ROC troops stationed on the island. No casualties were reported during the conflict. In 2005, Smart Communications, a telecommunications company from the Philippines, installed a cellular phone base station on Pag-asa Island. The Philippines argue their sovereignty over the Spratlys based on the concepts of res nullius and geography. They claim that Kalayaan was considered res nullius until the 1930s when France and Japan acquired the islands.

In 1951, Japan renounced their sovereignty over

the islands in the San Francisco Peace Treaty. As a result, the islands were relinquished without any specific beneficiary. The Philippines argue that this made the islands res nullius and open for annexation. In 1956, Philippine businessman Tomas Cloma took advantage of this situation and claimed sovereignty over the islands. Although the Philippines never officially endorsed Cloma's claim, they used his same argument of sovereignty when he transferred it to them.

The argument for the Philippine claim to Kalayaan on geographical grounds is that it stands out from other South China Sea island groups. In oceanography, it is typical to designate a chain of islands by the name of the largest one or with a collective term. It is important to mention that Spratly Island is considerably smaller than Pag-asa Island, measuring only 13 hectares compared to 22 hectares. Additionally, Spratly Island is approximately 210 nm away from Pag-asa Islands.

The assertion that the Paracels are not connected to the same island chain supports the argument. The Paracels, located 34.5 nm northwest of Pag-asa Island, are clearly a distinct group of islands.[40] Additionally, the Philippines contends that all the islands they claim in the Spratlys are within their archipelagic baselines, making them the sole claimant able to make this assertion.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) grants authority to coastal states over laws, regulations, and resource usage within their territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline. Furthermore, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) are designated within a range of 200 nautical miles from the baseline, giving coastal countries exclusive rights to exploit natural resources. China, the Philippines,

and Vietnam are all signatories of UNCLOS III.