Philippines Appeals to UN for Extended Boundaries in South China Sea
The Philippines has officially appealed to the United Nations to extend its boundaries further into the contested South China Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced on Saturday.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the DFA revealed that the Philippine Mission to the UN in New York submitted a claim on June 15 to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to assert the country’s entitlement to an extended continental shelf (ECS) in the West Palawan Region in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea.
The CLCS is responsible for implementing the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) with regards to establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
The submission, based on Article 76 of the UNCLOS, aims to establish the Philippines’ entitlement to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles but not exceeding 350 nautical miles from the baselines.
DFA Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Marshall Louis Alferez described the submission as a declaration of the Philippines’ maritime entitlements under UNCLOS and the country’s commitment to responsible application of the processes.
Ambassador Antonio Lagdameo, permanent representative of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York, believes the submission can encourage states to pursue UNCLOS processes in determining maritime entitlements and promote a rules-based international order.
The Philippines has been working for over 15 years with the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency (NAMRIA) to gather and process data needed for the submission for an extended continental shelf entitlement.
This is the second time the Philippines has submitted a claim for an ECS entitlement, with the first being for the Philippine Rise (formerly known as the Benham Rise) in 2009.
Beijing disputes the claims of several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, in the South China Sea and has taken aggressive actions to assert its stance, including deploying coast guard vessels and militarizing artificial islands.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed not to yield to Chinese pressure in asserting the Philippines’ claims in the contested waters.—with reports from Agence France-Presse
