Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 196

Introduced by Hon. Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The archipelagic geography of the Philippines has always been the determining
factor of the country’s foreign policy and maritime security. Being a coastal and an
Archipelagic State, it is cradied, surrounded and challenged by the sea.

Adapting the provisions of the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea,
the first workable mode with international acceptance that asserts the unity of land and
water, the Philippines hes declared itself an Archipelagic State. But while it has been
recognized as such by the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC), the country has yet
to settle and negotiate overlapping maritime jurisdictions under the LOSC.

As a result of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the
adoption of the LOSC, the Cabinet Committee on Maritime and Ocean Affairs
(CABCOM-MOA) was created under E.O. No. 738 in July 1984 to be the secretariat to
work on the necessary requirements and policies established in the convention. In 1999
the Secretagiat was renamed and reconstituted as the Maritime and Oceans Affair Center
(MOAC) by E.O. No. 132. To cope with the increased responsibilities and tasks, the
functions of the Cabinet Committee was transferred by EO 37 signed by President
Arroyo to the DFA expanding and upgrading its functions.

There is no doubt on the executive branch’s recognition of the growing
importance of policy-making and state practice on ocean and maritime affairs as seen in
the creation of the MOAC by an executive order. There is still a need, however, to give
the MOAC specific policy directives and equip it with adequate human resources and
organizational capabilities, as well as provide sufficient financial resources and fiscal
flexibility to finance projects to meet the urgent requirements of the ocean and maritime
interests of the county.

In spite of the functions taken on by the MOAC, DBM regards it not as a regular
attached agency of the DFA with its own budget and staffing but only as an “activity” of
the DFA. Even with E.0. 37 “expanding and upgrading” MOAC, the interpretation of
DBM has affected its current operations in terms of funding its projects and hiring of
needed staff.

‘Years after the priority work program has been laid down in 1994, the completion
has yet to be achieved. Progress has been slow due to the constraints in organization,
funding and coordination.


Empowering MOAC through a legislative charter shall enable it to meet the
urgent requirement of the ocean and maritime interest of the country. It will be a step
towards harnessing the benefits of our national wealth and at the same time, work for its
protection.

For the promotion, protection, maintenance of national unity, sovereignty,
territorial integrity, maritime security and sustainable and environmentally sound
development of our country’s ocean and marine resources, the establishment of the
Maritime and Oceans Affairs Center is sought.

RO: IORI iO B. IN

Representative
Lont District, Muntintupa City


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. _196

Introduced by Hon. Rozzano Rufino B, Biazon

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING THE MARITIME AND OCEAN AFFAIRS CENTER AS AN
ATTACHED AGENCY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
PROVIDING FOR ITS FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the Maritime and Ocean
Affairs Center Act of 2002.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the Philippines, as an
archipelagic State, to promote, protect and maintain national unity, sovereignty, territorial
integrity, maritime security, and a sustainable and environmentally sound development of
‘ocean and marine resources within the framework of a National Marine policy.

The National Marine Policy shall reflect the national marine interests within the
context of international law and regime of the oceans, including the 1982 Law of the Sea
Convention and other non-binding declarations to which the Philippines is a signatory.

The State recognizes that marine resources and environment, including those of
the oceans, all seas, archipelagic waters, and adjacent coastal areas form an integrated
whole that are essential components of the national ocean economy and life-support
system constituting vital assets for sustainable development.

The State shall promote an integrated management and sustainable development
of all coastal and marine areas within all its maritime jurisdictions, including the
Exclusive Economic Zone and the extended continental shelf benefiting all stakeholders
equitably.

The State shall provide for an integrated policy and decision-making process,
including comprehensive consultation mechanisms with public and private sectors, in
order to achieve a rational, compatible and equitable use of the oceans.

SECTION 3. Responsibilities and Functions of the Department of Foreign
Affairs on Maritime and Ocean Affairs. - The Department of Foreign Affairs shall
have the primary responsibility in the conduct of ocean diplomacy and in providing
information and advice in the formulation, updating and implementation of the National
Marine policy,


Pursuant to the foregoing responsibilities, the Department of Foreign Affairs shall
have the following functions:

a. Oversee and coordinate the implementation of the National Maritime Policy
and periodically evaluate and update it as necessary;

b. Formulate and recommend programs and special projects to enhance the
integrated and coordinated management of maritime and ocean interests of
the Philippines, particularly in:

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‘The protection of the archipelago, including promotion of maritime
security in relation to the national territory and maritime jurisdictions
and the development of national capabilities to preserve and manage
its maritime resources;

The prevention of the degradation of the marine environment and
‘ocean resources through the proper management of human activities
within its maritime jurisdiction;

The development and promotion of Philippine interests in shipping,
seafaring, fisheries exploitation and extraction of mineral and energy
resources, and other ocean-based industries;

Identify and develop policy options in implementing international
agreements on the oceans, as well as non-binding instruments, to
which the Philippines is a party or signatory;

Recommend policies, programs and special projects necessary to
advance the national interest and fulfill international commitments
relative to the sustainable use of ocean resources and marine
scientific research;

Source foreign technical and other assistance for projects, in
coordination with relevant agencies of the government on the small-
seale use of marine resources by subsistence fishermen and their
association to further improve methods of fishing, fish-farming, aqua-
culture and marine-related studies which directly help them augment
incomes while conserving resources and protecting the environment;

Formulated programs, coordinate and/or undertake activities to
promote the archipelagic consciousness in the country.

SECTION 4. Creation and Functions of the Maritime and Ocean Affairs
Center. — The Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center is created as an attached agency of the
Department of Foreign Affairs, hereafter known as the Center.

The Center shall have the following functions and responsibilities:

a. Serve as the Secretariat to the Department of Foreign Affairs on maritime and
ocean affairs and provide assistance and administrative support to the
Secretary of Foreign Affairs with regard to maritime and ocean matters;

b. Promote the development of national capabilities and institutions including
human resources, for maritime an ocean affairs;


c. Undertake the following:

(1) Consultations with any government agency, concerned maritime and
Ocean sectors, non-government organization, academe, and/or the
general public, on any maritime related matters as may be deemed
necessary;

(2) Research programs and policy studies on any and/or all maritime
sectors as may be needed including those for regulatory,
governmental, strategic, or maritime security purposes;

(3) Initiate steps to harmonize and/or update domestic legislation and
rules and regulations with international agreements or non-binding
instruments to which the Philippines is a party;

(4) Research, data gathering, information acquisition, and preparation for
any negotiation or other modes of dispute settlement with other
countries in matters concerning the delineation/delimitation of
territorial and maritime boundaries, fisheries, energy and mineral
exploration and exploitation in the ocean, or other agreements relating
to the conservation, exploration, exploitation, _ protection,
development, and/or management of marine resources within the
archipelagic waters, territorial seas and exclusive economic zone as
well as areas as adjacent to the latter.

d. Create and maintain a central data-base on maritime and ocean affairs, as well
as an ocean-charting and information-gathering system in the form of the
MOAC-GIS, in support of maritime and ocean policy and decision-making
and implementation;

e. Identify, network with, and mobilize national and/or international expertise
and institutions in support of or to assist the Government in maritime and
ocean policy and decision-making and implementation;

£ Undertake, or cause to be undertaken, activities necessary to raise the national
archipelagic consciousness and communicate and publicize in a coordinated
manner, national maritime and ocean interests and issues;

g. Coordinate the participation of the appropriate agencies of government in
international fora, meetings and conferences that are relevant to the maritime
and ocean interest of the Philippines;

h. Render a regular report to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, on all activities
undertaken by the Center;

i, Source out an avail of grants, endowments or donations from foreign to local
entities in accordance with existing laws to be applied to projects or programs
and studies to implement the policies or directives of the Department of
Foreign Affairs in connection with maritime and ocean affairs.

SECTION 5. Organization of the Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center
a. Secretary General — to be appointed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs from

among the career Chiefs of Mission from the Department of Foreign Affairs will
head the Center. For purposes of appropriate representation in the conduct of


high-level international negotiations and conferences, the Secretary General shall
be accorded the rank of Undersecretary or its equivalent as Vice-Minister.

The Secretary General is hereby authorized to hire and determine remuneration of
consultants and experts, as needed;

The Secretary General is authorized to request and accept the detail and
secondment of personnel from other government agencies, the academe, and other
institutions in accordance with the Civil Service Law and rules and regulations;

‘The Secretary General is authorized to draw up the staffing pattern and staff rules
of the Center, together with a system of allowances and honoraria, for approval by
the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

b. Executive Director — with the rank of Director IV, shall be designated by the
Secretary General, who shall serve as the Chief of Staff of the Center and provide
supervision of the substantive workflow and administrative and day-to-day
operations of the Center.

c. The Center shall have the following initial Directorates, each fully staffed and
headed by a Director to be designated by the Secretary General:

I. Directorate for Territorial and Other Maritime Jurisdictions,
Archipelagic Sealanes, Sea-lines of Communication (SLOC’s), Marine
Geodesy and Charting

I. Directorate for Sea-bed Resources, International Sea-bed Authority,
Extended Continental Shelf

Ill. Directorate for Fisheries, Marine Environment Protection, Marine
Scientific Research

IV. Directorate for Oceans Law and Policy, International Negotiations,
Intemational Dispute Settlement Procedures

v. Directorate for Maritime Security, Anti-Piracy, Marine Pollution,
MCS & VMS.

VI. Directorate for Maritime and Ocean Information Resource and
Conference Services

‘VI. Directorate for Administrative, Financial Management and Ocean
Economy Studies

SECTION 6. Funding and Sourcing

a. Subject to the usual auditing and accounting rules and regulations, the Center
shall be provided with an initial appropriation of Twenty Million Pesos
(P20,000,000.00) to be drawn from funds to be identified by the Department of
Budget and Management.

b. The Center is hereby authorized to find ways and means of undertaking projects
with the associated financing, including, charges and fees for services in terms of
subscriptions, the availment of loans from overseas and multilateral financial
institutions and recourse to joint ventures on infrastructure projects under the
Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme as authorized by R.A. 7718 for projects
related to:


1, Geodetic, hydrographic, and marine geological surveys for the systematic
collection of basic information, including mapping and charting of the
exclusive economic zones, and the extended continental shelf, in
accordance with intemational hydrographic and geodetic standards, in
order to meet the November 16, 2004 deadline for the submission to the
United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to
generate the required geodetic data and other geological information to be
shown on official charts in compliance with Article 76 of the Law of the
Sea Convention, and Article 4 of Annex II of the same convention;

2. Hydrographic survey, electronic charting and delineation of archipelagic
sealanes in compliance with Article 53 of the Law of the Sea Convention,
together with the formulation of associated protective measures, including
marine safety regulations, emplacement of navigational aids,
rationalization of domestic ship routering, enforcement of traffic
management, installation of pollution monitoring devices and
metereological warning systems;

3. Remote-sensing and laser-assisted Geomatics methods for rapid charting
of coastal areas, Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA’s), including
redefinition and delineation of municipal waters to harmonize these
jurisdictions with maritime jurisdictions under the Law of the Sea
Convention.

4. Creation of the web-enabled Geographic Information System (GIS) as
authorized under R.A. 8792, the Electronic Commerce Act, that would
allow access to maps, charts, geologic data, information on fishing areas,
protected areas and associated information by concerned agencies and the
private sector;

5. Design and implementation of the satellite-based Monitoring, Control and
Surveillance (MOAC-MCS) and a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for
use by all concerned agencies and the private sector for anti-piracy and
anti-terrorism measures, prevention of illegal entry, search-and-rescue
operations, safety of shipping and life at sea, fisheries management, and
monitoring of sea-lanes and marine pollution. The systems shall operate
on a subscription basis that ensures that each system pays for itself,
including operational costs; security measures shall be undertaken to
ensure integrity of data and the protection of encrypted and/or proprietary
information.

6. Feasibility studies for the establishment of ocean-related industries as part
of the ocean cluster.

7. Marine research studies, preferably in cooperation, with international and
regional institutions.

SECTION 9. Transitory Provisions. ~ Upon approval of this Act, the existing
Maritime and Ocean Affairs Center at the Department of Foreign Affairs created under
Executive Order 37 issued on 24 September 2001, shall be become the core of the Center
created under this Act. The reorganization, hiring of additional personnel, consultants,
and experts and re-location to suitable office premises and associated changes provided
for in this Act, shall be undertaken expeditiously, based on a program of conversion,
within six months from approval of this Act.


The Department of the Budget and Management is hereby requested to release
expeditiously to the Center the funds appropriated and authorized under this Act.

SECTION 10. Repealing Clause. — All laws or parts of any law, executive
orders of parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or
modified accordingly.

SECTION 11. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Act is held invalid,
the other provisions not affected thereby shall continue in operation.

SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect after its approval.
Approved,