MANILA, March 29 (PNA) — The House of Representatives, come resumption of session in May, is set to approve on final reading the proposed law providing the parameters for the establishment of the Archipelagic Sea Lanes in the country’s archipelagic waters.
Contained in Committee Report No. 574, House Bill 5487 is in substitution of the original bill and sponsored during plenary debates by the Committee on Foreign Affairs chaired by Rep. Al Francis C. Bichara (2nd District, Albay), himself one of the principal authors of the original measure, HB 4888.
HB 5487, approved on second reading on adjournment day, March 18, is entitled “An Act providing for the establishment of the Archipelagic Sea Lanes in the Philippines Archipelagic waters, prescribing the rights and obligations of foreign ships and aircraft exercising the right of Archipelagic Sea Lanes passage.”
Other principal authors of the measure are Reps. Francisco Ashley L. Acedillo (Magdalo Party-list), Rep. Rodolfo G. Biazon (Lone District, City of Muntinlupa), Rep. Jose F. Zubiri III (3rd District Bukidnon), and Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City), among others.
Archipelagic sea lane refers to the designated sea lanes and air routes in the archipelagic waters through which foreign vessels or aircraft may exercise the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage.
It is noted that one of the key provisions emphasizes that the exercise of the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage (ASLP) by all foreign ships shall be consistent with the constitutional mandate of freedom from nuclear weapons in Philippine territory.
While Archipelagic sea lane passage refers to the exercise in accordance with the UNCLOS of the rights of navigation and overflight in the normal mode solely for the purpose of continuous, expeditious and unobstructed transit between one part of the high sea or an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and another part of the high sea or an EEZ.
Archipelagic waters refer to the waters on the landward side of the archipelagic baselines except as defined as Internal Waters.
HB 5487 provides that the “State in the exercise of its duty to protect its maritime domain shall implement and adhere to the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and relevant international conventions to which the Philippines is a party.”
HB 5487 provides for a comprehensive array of provisions stating the rights and obligations of foreign ships and aircraft when exercising the right of Archipelagic Sea Lane Passage.
Under the proposed Act, the President shall promulgate through Executive Issuances the archipelagic sea lanes which may be used for the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage and the rules and regulations relating to Associated Protective Measures to be prescribed, within areas along the archipelagic sea lanes in accordance with the International Maritimes Organization (IMO) Conventions and Regulations and other relevant international agreements.
The National Coast Watch System (NCWS), created by virtue of Executive Order 57, Series of 2011, under the control and supervision of the Office of the President, shall serve as the coordinating mechanism for the implementation of this Act and shall continue to operate in accordance with its present organizational structure, the bill states.
Section 4 of the Act states, among others that “Foreign ships and aircraft may exercise the right of an archipelagic sea lanes passage in accordance with the provisions of UNCLOS in order to navigate or fly from one part of the high seas or an EEZ to another part of the high seas or an EEZ through or over the Philippine archipelagic waters and its adjacent territorial sea. Such lanes shall be defined by a series of continuous axis lines from the entry points of passage routes to the exit points.
Likewise, Sec. 5 provides, among other provisions, that “(a) Foreign ships and aircraft exercising the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage shall pass through or above the archipelagic sea lane as quickly as possible without delay and in the normal mode solely for the purpose of continuous, expeditious and unobstructed transit.”
Foreign ships and aircraft, including military aircraft and warships, while exercising the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage, shall refrain from any war game exercises or exercises using any type of weapons, especially involving the use of ordinance, the proposed Act provides.
Foreign ships or aircraft exercising archipelagic sea lanes passage shall refrain from making covert transmissions, interfering with telecommunications systems and communicating directly with an unauthorized person or group of persons in Philippines territory.
Sec. 6 also states that “All foreign ships exercising the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage shall refrain from stopping, dropping anchor or loitering, except when rendered necessary by force majeure or by distress in order to render assistance to a person or persons or a ship or ships experiencing distress.”
Sec. 7 provides, among others, (a) Foreign ships, including fishing vessels, while exercising the right of archipelagic sea lanes passage, shall not conduct any fishing operation or exploitation of marine resources of the Philippines. (PNA)