Substitute bill on Philippine maritime zones sets fines
By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
PHILIPPINE senators have filed a substitute bill that consolidates eight proposed measures setting the country’s maritime zones — including Benham Rise in the West Pacific (Philippine Sea) and territories claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).
A main feature of the bill seeks penalties against erring foreign actors in these maritime zones with fines of at least $600,000 (P33.30 million) payable to the Philippine Government.
“The Philippines exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over its archipelago waters and the airspace over it as well as its seabed and subsoil in accordance with UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and other existing laws and treaties,)” read part of Senate Bill (SB) No. 2492, which is uploaded on the Senate website.
The bill is a priority measure as agreed upon by the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones, which tackled the eight separate Senate maritime zones bills.
Under SB 2492, foreign actors that would build artificial islands, marine scientific research and destroy Philippine marine environments would be fined not less than $600,000 (P33.30 million) but not more than $1 million (P55.96 million).
The bill would also include Benham Rise, locally known as the Philippine Rise in the Pacific side of the country and cited to be abundant in marine species, untapped mineral resources, and gas deposits.
The zones would also be defined in accordance with arbitral awards rendered in favor of the Philippines by a United Nations-backed tribunal.
Senator Francis T. Tolentino earlier cited the need to fast-track the measure amid tensions with China in the South China Sea.
The Senate plans to pass the measure after it approves the 2024 national budget by the end of November.
Lawmakers would also craft a Philippine map to assert the country’s claim in the South China Sea in response to China’s so-called 10-dash line map, Mr. Tolentino earlier said.
China’s 2023 map of the 10-dash line map has been criticized for covering regions beyond China’s borders and calming most of the South China Sea.
The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority has said it would finish mapping Philippine territories in the waterway by 2028.
