Hindi na umano kailangan ng geographical coordinates para tukuyin ang exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ng bansa dahil hindi ito required sa ilalim ng international law, ayon kay retired Supreme Court (SC) senior associate justice Antonio Carpio.
“Coordinates are not required under international law. In fact, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the moment you have a coastline, you are an island with a coast… it states that you have a continental shelf,” paliwanag ni Carpio.
Ito ay kaugnay sa pahayag ni Sen. Rodante Marcoleta na wala umanong “specific computation” o coordinates ang West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Ipinaliwanag naman ni Carpio sa isang panayam sa Super Radyo dzBB na upang sukatin ang 200 nautical miles na EEZ ay kailangan lamang ang archipelagic baselines ng bansa.
“From these baselines, by satellite GPS, you would know where your 200 natural miles of EEZ would end,” ani Carpio ngayong Biyernes, Pebrero 6.
“Hindi kailangan magkaroon ng batas o magkaroon ng coordinates for you to have your continental shelf. ‘Yung continental shelf, ‘yun ‘yung exclusive economic zone mo… there is no need to make any proclamation. That is the beauty of international law,” dagdag pa niya.
Ulat ni Jilliane Libunao