The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has endorsed the Marcos administration’s stance on asserting the country’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea.
Citing the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and the Spanish-United States Treaty of Washington in 1900, the IBP highlighted these treaties as foundations for the Philippines’ territorial boundaries.
The IBP also referenced the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which grants coastal states sovereign rights over their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) up to 200 nautical miles.
The IBP backed its argument with the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration decision affirming the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.
Additionally, the IBP emphasized the 1987 Philippine Constitution’s mandate to protect local fishermen’s rights to communal marine and fishing resources.
Source: PhilNews24 | July 1, 2024
