OUTERLIMITS. The cover of the executive summary of the Philippine government's partial submission of data and information on the outer limits of the country's continental shelf in the West Palawan Region. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said Thursday (July 18, 2024) that the Philippines has affirmed its claim to its extended continental shelf in the Western Palawan Region consistent with its maritime entitlements under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. (Image courtesy of UN CLCS)
MANILA – The Philippine government on Thursday affirmed its claim to its extended continental shelf (ECS) in the Western Palawan Region but reiterated its readiness to talk with Vietnam as the latter makes a new submission to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
“The Philippines affirms its claim to its extended continental shelf in the Western Palawan Region consistent with its maritime entitlements under UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), as demonstrated by our ECS submission made on 15 June 2024,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said in a statement.
“Nevertheless, we acknowledge Vietnam’s right, as a coastal State like the Philippines, to submit information to establish the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the relevant and lawful baselines from which its territorial sea is measured, as provided for under UNCLOS.”
Manila, she said, is ready to engage Hanoi “on possible ways forward that would help achieve a mutually beneficial solution to South China Sea issues, in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS.”
Vietnam submitted its formal claim on an ECS in the “Central Area of the East Sea (South China Sea)” before the CLCS on July 17.
This was Vietnam’s third submission and came a month after the Philippines formally asked the CLCS to register its ECS in the Western Palawan Region on June 15.
Vietnam in May 2009 submitted a separate submission concerning what it calls the “North Area” of the South China Sea, and a joint submission with Malaysia for the “Southern Part” of the same sea.
In a communication dated July 17, Vietnam said it rejects the Philippines’ claim over a portion of its ECS, saying it “encroaches” upon its 200-nautical-mile continental shelf and “overlaps” with the ECS it defined in its three submissions.
The Southeast Asian state, however, said it also “stands ready to discuss and negotiate this matter with the Philippines" based on the UNCLOS.
In the same communication, Vietnam requested the CLCS to refrain from considering the Philippines’ submission “until all the relevant issues have been resolved” between the two states. (PNA)
