m1.doc - G.R No 187167 PROF MERLIN M MAGALLONA AKBAYAN...

G.R No. 187167 August 16, 2011
PROF. MERLIN M. MAGALLONA, AKBAYAN PARTY-LIST REP. RISA HONTIVEROS,
PROF. HARRY C. ROQUE, JR., AND UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES COLLEGE OF
LAW STUDENTS, ALITHEA BARBARA ACAS, VOLTAIRE ALFERES, CZARINA MAY
ALTEZ, FRANCIS ALVIN ASILO, SHERYL BALOT, RUBY AMOR BARRACA, JOSE JAVIER
BAUTISTA, ROMINA BERNARDO, VALERIE PAGASA BUENAVENTURA, EDAN
MARRI CAÑETE, VANN ALLEN DELA CRUZ, RENE DELORINO, PAULYN MAY
DUMAN, SHARON ESCOTO, RODRIGO FAJARDO III, GIRLIE FERRER, RAOULLE
OSEN FERRER, CARLA REGINA GREPO, ANNA MARIE CECILIA GO, IRISH KAY
KALAW, MARY ANN JOY LEE, MARIA LUISA MANALAYSAY, MIGUEL RAFAEL
MUSNGI, MICHAEL OCAMPO, JAKLYN HANNA PINEDA, WILLIAM RAGAMAT,
MARICAR RAMOS, ENRIK FORT REVILLAS, JAMES MARK TERRY RIDON, JOHANN
FRANTZ RIVERA IV, CHRISTIAN RIVERO, DIANNE MARIE ROA, NICHOLAS
SANTIZO, MELISSA CHRISTINA SANTOS, CRISTINE MAE TABING, VANESSA ANNE
TORNO, MARIA ESTER VANGUARDIA, and MARCELINO VELOSO III, Petitioners,
vs.
HON. EDUARDO ERMITA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, HON.
ALBERTO ROMULO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HON. ROLANDO ANDAYA, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT, HON. DIONY VENTURA, IN
HIS CAPACITY AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE NATIONAL MAPPING & RESOURCE
INFORMATION AUTHORITY, and HON. HILARIO DAVIDE, JR., IN HIS CAPACITY AS
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PERMANENT MISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES TO THE UNITED NATIONS, Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
CARPIO, J.:
The Case
This original action for the writs of certiorari and prohibition assails the
constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9522
1
(RA 9522) adjusting the country’s
archipelagic baselines and classifying the baseline regime of nearby territories.
The Antecedents
- In 1961, Congress passed Republic Act No. 3046 (RA 3046)
2
demarcating the
maritime baselines of the Philippines as an archipelagic State.
3
- This law followed the framing of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the
1

Contiguous Zone in 1958 (UNCLOS I),
4
codifying, among others, the sovereign right
of States parties over their "territorial sea," the breadth of which, however, was
left undetermined.
- Attempts to fill this void during the second round of negotiations in Geneva in
1960 (UNCLOS II) proved futile.
- Thus, domestically, RA 3046 remained unchanged for nearly five decades, save
for legislation passed in 1968 (Republic Act No. 5446 [RA 5446]) correcting
typographical errors and reserving the drawing of baselines around Sabah in North
Borneo.
- In March 2009, Congress amended RA 3046 by enacting RA 9522, the statute
now under scrutiny. The change was prompted by the need to make RA 3046
compliant with the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS III),
5
which the Philippines ratified on 27 February 1984.
6
- Among others, UNCLOS III prescribes the water-land ratio, length, and contour of
baselines of archipelagic States like the Philippines
7
and sets the deadline for the
filing of application for the extended continental shelf.