Philippine Territory Island free essay sample

Under a treaty entered into with the sultans of Sulu and Maguindanao in 1640, the Spaniards recognized the independence of the two sultanates. Thus, the Sulu sultan later became the sovereign ruler of Sabah. The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 45 islands are occupied by relatively small numbers of military forces from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Since 1985 Brunei has claimed a continental shelf that overlaps a southern reef but has not made any formal claim to the reef. Brunei claims an exclusive economic zone over this area. Administratively, the Calayan island was part of the Batanes group of islands. From 1902, Calayan was brought under Cagayan Province. However, this change of administrative control resulted in isolation of the islanders as transport communications were lacking. We will write a custom essay sample on Philippine Territory Island or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1916, Fray Andres Sanchez and Fray Geronimo Morer, Dominican Fathers, visited this island and gave the island its name. What This treaty constitutes the main basis of the territorial dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia over Sabah. The Philippines claims that the term pajak means lease while Malaysia claims that it means cession. â€Å"Lease† means a contract by which a rightful possessor of real property conveys the right to use and occupy the property for consideration, usually rent. â€Å"Cession† means the relinquishment or transfer of land from one state to another. all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China (including Taiwan) and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines; despite no public territorial claim to Louisa Reef, Brunei implicitly lays claim by including it within the natural prolongation of its continental shelf and basis for a seabed median with Vietnam; claimants in  November 2002 signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding code of conduct; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands In 1940, during World War II, American Forces, who came by the USS Princeton, occupied the island. This was welcomed by the people of Calayan as it ushered prosperity to the island as well as provision of medicine, clothing and other items of utility. Schools were established by the American forces and they also functioned as teachers with English as the medium of instruction. They also introduced adult educationprogrammes. In return, the Calayanos offered gifts to the soldiers such as ancient jars, sea shells and handicrafts. When In 1881, the syndicate represented by Overbeck and Dent was chartered as British North Borneo Co. (BNBC). In 1898, under the Treaty of Paris, Spain sold the Philippines to the United States. The treaty boundaries allegedly did not include Sabah. During World War II, the Japanese occupied Brunei. After the war, in 1946, the British Crown granted Brunei the status of crown colony. In 1963, Sabah joined Malaysia. In 2002, China and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that aimed â€Å"to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means, without resorting to the threat or use of force, through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned† (ASEAN 2002). This has created a tense stalemate that can change at any time. Tensions increased when the Sulu Sultanate from the Philippines attacked North Borneo in early March 2013. North Borneo is part of Sabah, a member state of Malaysia that has claimed the Spratly Islands. On 8 December 1941, the Calayan group of islands became occupied by Japanese Imperial Forces. During the early liberation period in 1944, the American Forces seized the Japanese garrison, and moved the Japanese prisoners to concentration camps in Luzon. Where It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of North  Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton. Sabah is often referredto as The Land Below The Wind, a phrase used by seafarers in the past to describe lands south of the typhoon belt. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia (Sabah), and southernVietnam. They contain less than 4 square kilometers (1. 5 square miles) of land area spread over more than 425,000 square kilometers (164,100 square miles) of sea. The Spratlys are one of 3 archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia. Calayan Island is located about 24 miles (39 km) west-southwest of Babuyan Island off the north coast of the Philippines and belongs to the Babuyan Islands group in the China Sea. The island is hemmed between Aparri and Batanes islands and it is larger than the Fuga Island, which is 25 miles (40 km) away. It is the second district in the province of Cagayan and its 29th municipality. How In 1878, the Sulu sultan entered into a deed of pajak with Austrian Gustavus Baron de Overbeck and Englishman Alfred Dent, who were representatives of a British company. The deed was written in Arabic. In 1946, professor Harold Conklin translated the term pajak as â€Å"lease. † The 1878 Deed provided for an annual rental. States staking claims to various islands are: Brunei, China (Peoples Republic of China), Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan (Republic of China), andVietnam. All except Brunei occupy some of the islands. The Spratly Islands are important for a number of reasons: the Spratly area holds significant reserves of oil and natural gas, it is a productive area for world fishing and commercial shipping, and coastal countries would get an extended continental shelf. But only some states, such as China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC), and Vietnam have made claims based on historical sovereignty of the islands. The Japanese Imperial Forces invaded the Calayan group in December 8, 1941. According to some Calayanos, the Japanese soldiers practically despoiled the islands of the improvements achieved during the American regime. However, the American Forces easily subdued the Japanese garrison during the early liberation period in 1944 and brought the Japanese prisoners to concentration camps in Luzon. II. Basis of Phil. Claim/Ownership The Philippine claim is based on the argument that the 1878 Deed or pajak was a treaty of lease. In 1950, Congress adopted a â€Å"concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Philippines that North Borneo belongs to the heirs of the sultan of Sulu and the ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines, and authorizing the President to conduct negotiations for the restoration of such ownership and sovereign jurisdiction over said territory. † In 1961, President Diosdado Macapagal filed the Philippine claim to Sabah. The next year, in the UN General Assembly, the Philippine Vice President appealed for help in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Sabah issue. The Philippines however, claims it as its territory under UNCLOS. An agreement in which all competing countries have ratified. The Philippines base their claims of sovereignty over the Spratlys on the issues of Res nullius and geography. The Philippines contend their claim wasRes nullius as there was no effective sovereignty over the islands until the 1930s when France and then Japan acquired the island s. When Japan renounced their sovereignty over the islands according to the San Francisco Treaty, there was a relinquishment of the right to the islands without any special beneficiary. Therefore, argue the Philippines, the islands became Res nullius and available for annexation. Heir’s declaration In 1962, the heirs of the Sulu sultan issued a declaration, titled â€Å"Recognition and authority in favor of the Republic of the Philippines,† which ceded and transferred sovereignty over Sabah to the Philippines. The Republic of the Philippines accepted the cession of sovereignty made by the Sulu sultan. In that same year, Congress reiterated its 1950 resolution. The Sulu sultan’s heirs later met with President Corazon Aquino, who advised them to organize themselves. She wrote the Malaysian prime minister asking him to increase the lease payment. However, Malaysia contended that in 1989, the Sulu sultan’s heirs had revoked their authorization issued to the Philippine government as their representative. In 2001, another heir sent another demand letter for an increase in lease payments. The Philippine’s claim is based mainly on Article 76 of the UNCLOS as it provides the framework for establishing the rights granted in Article 77 to littoral states affected by the controversy. UNCLOS compartmentalized the ‘common heritage of man’ into various maritime zones consisting of the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and the high seas. Due to the highly technical nature of the provisions of UNCLOS, the paper will focus on the legal regime of the extended continental shelf and will briefly discuss the other maritime zone regimes to the extent necessary in understanding the application of Article 76 of UNCLOS. Furthermore, while most literature on the subject matter of the Spratly conflict advocates diplomatic solutions to be adopted by the littoral states, the paper will limit its discussions to the legality of the Philippines claim. While a diplomatic approach to a geopolitical conflict may ultimately be resorted to, the interests of the Philippines will be best served by making its legal position the bedrock for any diplomatic solution or future international arbitration.