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Territories claimed by the Philippines

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The Philippines has claims on territories which include the Spratly Islands, portions of North Borneo, and the Scarborough Shoal.

Main territories claimed[edit]

South China Sea islands[edit]

See also: South China Sea dispute
Map showing the approximate area corresponding to the official extent of the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea. The area contains the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal which are territories claimed by the Philippines.

The Philippine government claims Spratly Islands features locating within its EEZ in the South China Sea as part of its territory. The Philippine government' has designated its EEZ in the eastern portion of the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea".

In 1734, the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines published the first edition of the Velarde map, detailing the territories under full sovereign control of Spanish Philippines, which included Scarborough Shoal (called Panacot in the indigenous language in the map) and the Spratly Islands (referred in the map as Los Bajos de Paragua). The 1734 Velarde map is the earliest map to showcase the sovereignty of a nation over Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.[1][2] In 1792, the Spanish colonial government of the territory of the Philippines launched the first ever survey of Scarborough Shoal on May 4, 1792. The survey, Plano de la Navigacion, was taken by Alessandro Malaspina aboard the Sta. Lucia, with Filipino comrades.[3] The official territories of the Philippines was again published in the 1808 Carita General del Archipelago Filipino and again in the 1875 Carita General del Archipelago Filipino.[1][2][4]

After the Spanish-American War, Spain lost and ceded the territory of the Philippines to the United States through the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The 1898 Treaty of Paris created a treaty line, where Scarborough Shoal, the Spratly Islands, and parts of Tawi-tawi continued to be under Spanish sovereignty. This led to talks between Spain and the United States, which ended upon the signing of the 1900 Treaty of Washington, which rectified retroactively the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Under the 1900 Treaty of Washington, "all islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying outside the lines described in Article III" were also ceded to the United States as part of the territory of the Philippines, where Scarborough Shoal, the Spratly Islands, and the rest of Tawi-tawi was included.[1][5][6] From 1899 to 1902, the United States war department in the territory of the Philippines republished and reissued four times the 1875 Carita General del Archipelago Filipino with the addition of military telegraph lines, military cable lines, eastern cable company lines, and military department boundaries. The official map of the entire Philippine territory under Spanish rule was effectively adopted as the entire Philippine territory under American rule.[7]During the 1928 Islas Palmas international case, the United States, as representative of the territory of the Philippines, reiterated in a court memorandum that the 1875 Carta General del Archipielago Filipino "is both an American official and a Spanish official map" of Philippine territory, bounding the United States on its recognition of the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands as Philippine territory.[8][9] In 1930, the United States and the United Kingdom signed a treaty, where the United Kingdom recognized the territory of Philippines which included Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys, effectively bounding the United Kingdom's successor countries as well, such as Malaysia and Brunei.[10]

The southernmost territory of any dynasty in China was limited to Hainan island.[11][12][13] In 1932, China sent a Note Verbale to France, declaring that China's southernmost territory was the Paracels, the first time it did so in its history.[14][15][16] In 1933, when France occupied six features in the Spratlys, China did not protest as it recognized the year before that its southernmost territory was limited to the Paracels.[17][18][19] In 1943, China again reiterated through its government-published book, China Handbook (1937-1943), that its southernmost territory was the Paracels, specifically Triton Island.[20] In 1947, China revised its Handbook, and declared for the first time in its history that its southernmost territory was the Spratlys. In its revised 1947 Handbook, China also admitted that the Spratlys is claimed as well by the Philippines and Indochina.[21] In 1990, 1994, and 1997, the Chinese government published three volumes of its ancient maps, showing the southernmost territory of its dynasties was Hainan island.[22][23][24]

During the court proceedings of the South China Sea Arbitration, China sent its "Position Paper" where it reiterated China's recognition of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the 1900 Treaty of Washington, and the 1930 US-UK Treaty, which defines Philippine territory as including Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.[25] In 2016, the Philippines won the case, and the international court effectively invalidated the dash line utilized by both the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) to claim an entire sea.[26][27]

Scarborough Shoal[edit]

The Scarborough Shoal, more correctly described as a group of islands, atolls, and reefs rather than a shoal, is located in the South China Sea. The nearest landmass is Palauig town, Zambales province, Luzon Island, at 221 kilometres (137 mi). It is about 198 kilometres (123 mi) west of Subic Bay.

The Philippines, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan claim it.

In April 2012, the Philippines accused Chinese boats of fishing illegally and asked them to leave.

The Philippines is asserting jurisdiction over the shoal based on the juridical criteria established by public international law on the lawful methods for the acquisition of sovereignty. Among the criteria (effective occupation, cession, prescription, conquest, and accretion), the Philippines said that the country "exercised both effective occupation and effective jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc since its independence". Thus, it claims to have erected flags on some islands and a lighthouse which is reported to the International Maritime Organization. It also asserts that Philippine and US Naval Forces have used it as an impact range and that its Department of Environment and Natural Resources has conducted scientific, topographic and marine studies on the shoal, while Filipino fishermen regularly use it as a fishing ground and have always considered it their own.[28] Likewise, multiple engagements and arrests of Chinese fishermen were already made at the shoal by the Philippine Navy for using illegal fishing methods and catching of endangered sea species.[29]

The legal basis of the Philippines' assertion is based on the international law on acquisition of sovereignty. Thus, the Philippine government explains that its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claim on the waters around Scarborough Shoal is different from the sovereignty exercised by the Philippines on the shoal itself.

The Chinese basis for the claim is that the shoal, according to China, was first discovered by Chinese in the 13th century and historically used by Chinese fishermen.

Spratly Islands[edit]

Main articles: Spratly Islands, Spratly Islands dispute, and Philippines and the Spratly Islands

The Philippines claims fifty-two landforms in the Spratly Island group. Of these fifty-two landforms, only five islands, two cays, and three reefs are under Philippine occupation: the Flat Island (Patag), the Loaita Island (Kota), the Nanshan Island (Lawak), the Thitu Island (Pagasa), the West York Island (Likas), the Lankiam Cay (Panata), the Northeast Cay (Parola), the Irving Reef (Balagtas), the Commodore Reef (Rizal), and the Second Thomas (Ayungin) Reef. Some of the other landforms claimed but not occupied by the Philippines as of now are either occupied by Vietnam, China, Taiwan or Malaysia. Landforms in the Spratly Islands group that have not been claimed by the Philippines are typically those that are closer to Vietnam. The farthest landform the Philippines claims is Ladd Reef, which is currently occupied by Vietnam.

The Philippines established a municipality in the province of Palawan named Kalayaan after all the landforms found on Pag-asa island,

North Borneo[edit]

Main article: North Borneo dispute
Map of the British North Borneo with the yellow area covered the Philippine claim to eastern Sabah, presented by the Philippine Government to ICJ on 25 June 2001[30]

Between 1658 and 1700, the Sultanate of Sulu acquired the eastern part of the territory of Northern Borneo after helping the Bruneian forces settle a civil war. The Sulu Archipelago then came under the control of the Spanish while the area of Northern Borneo was administered by the British after the sultans of Brunei and Sulu agreed to cede their control. The western and eastern parts of Northern Borneo became known as North Borneo.[31][32]

In its process of decolonization beginning in 1946, Great Britain included Sabah in the newly formed Federation of Malaysia. The Philippines, which had already achieved its independence from the United States, protested the formation of Malaysia and filed claims for the whole territory of Northern Borneo under the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal. However, during a meeting to plan Maphilindo, the Philippine government stated that it had no objection to the formation of Malaysia, but claimed that the Sultan of Sulu wanted payment from the British government.[33] The first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, said he would return to Kuala Lumpur to protest the Philippines' claim.[33]

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos later revived the claim and trained a number of Moro fighters to reclaim the territory in a secret mission named Operation Merdeka.[34] However, when the recruits gained knowledge of their true mission, most of them demanded to be returned home, as they did not want to kill their fellow Muslims in Sabah.[35] Their request was denied; Marcos did not send back his soldiers but instead executed most of the fighters in an event known as the Jabidah massacre.[36] This caused a southern Philippines insurgency to emerge, and the claim continued to be escalated by other claimants from the defunct Sultanate of Sulu. These claimants each attempted to give themselves legitimacy by self-proclaiming as the new Sultan of Sulu with support from politicians in the Philippine central government wishing to incorporate Sabah into the Philippines. Most new claimants and Philippine politicians today use the promised Malaysian lease payment as their main reason to take over the territory and also use it as a reason before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).[33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MB20240210 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/opinion/2024/03/27/2343536/panatag-proven-ph-territory-china-claims-it-bogus-history was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Carpio, Antonio T. "1875 "Carta General del Archipielago Filipino." extract of The Historical Facts in The West Philippine Sea" (PDF). p. 45. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.imoa.ph/imoawebexhibit/Splices/The%20Historical%20Facts%20in%20the%20WPS-page54.pdf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/07/2361015/china-has-backed-philippine-maritime-zone-carpio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference https://www.onenews.ph/articles/news-in-context-is-the-1898-paris-treaty-the-strongest-case-for-wps-claims was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "1901 U.S. War Department Map of the Philippines". Archived from the original on February 16, 2023.
  8. ^ Bondoc, Jarius (October 18, 2023). "Carpio debunks China lie about owning Spratlys". The Philippine Star. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  9. ^ Carpio, Antonio T. (November 11, 2023). "ANALYSIS: The most complicated dispute in the world". Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  10. ^ Carpio 2024[timestamp needed]
  11. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1990). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  12. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1994). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  13. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1997). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  14. ^ The South China Sea in the Age of European Decline, Stein Tonnesson, Modern Asian Studies, p. 8, February 2006
  15. ^ China's Claim to the Spratly Islands is Just a Mistake, Bill Hayton, CIMSEC, May 16, 2018
  16. ^ Sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, Monique Chemelier-Gendreau, Annex 10, Kluwer Law International, 2000
  17. ^ The South China Sea in the Age of European Decline, Stein Tonnesson, Modern Asian Studies, p. 8, February 2006
  18. ^ China's Claim to the Spratly Islands is Just a Mistake, Bill Hayton, CIMSEC, May 16, 2018
  19. ^ Sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, Monique Chemelier-Gendreau, Annex 10, Kluwer Law International, 2000
  20. ^ China Handbook (1937-1943). The Chinese Ministry of Information.
  21. ^ China Handbook (1947). The Chinese Ministry of Information.
  22. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1990). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  23. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1994). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  24. ^ An Atlas of Ancient Maps in China (1997). Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing.
  25. ^ https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/07/2361015/china-has-backed-philippine-maritime-zone-carpio
  26. ^ https://www.rappler.com/philippines/137939-president-aquino-west-philippine-sea-china-dispute/
  27. ^ "China's 'nine-dash line, historic rights' invalid – tribunal". Inquirer.net. July 12, 2016.
  28. ^ "Pinoy fishermen successfully return from Scarborough fishing trip". abs-cbd.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  29. ^ "Palace: Philippines has sovereignty over Scarborough". philstar.com. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  30. ^ Mohamad, Kadir (2009). "Malaysia's territorial disputes – two cases at the ICJ : Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore), Ligitan and Sipadan [and the Sabah claim] (Malaysia/Indonesia/Philippines)" (PDF). Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. p. 46. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2014. Map of British North Borneo, highlighting in yellow colour the area covered by the Philippine claim, presented to the Court by the Philippines during the Oral Hearings at the ICJ on 25 June 2001
  31. ^ Rozan Yunos (September 21, 2008). "How Brunei lost its northern province". The Brunei Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  32. ^ Rozan Yunos (March 7, 2013). "Sabah and the Sulu claims". The Brunei Times. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  33. ^ a b c "Why 'Sultan' is dreaming". Daily Express. March 27, 2013. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  34. ^ "Marcos order: Destabilize, take Sabah". Philippine Daily Inquirer. April 2, 2000. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  35. ^ Acram Latiph (March 13, 2013). "Sabah – the question that won't go away". New Mandala. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  36. ^ Paul F. Whitman (2002). "The Corregidor Massacre - 1968". Corregidor Historic Society. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

Further reading[edit]

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