FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
1 
Introduced by Senator Biazon 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill proposes to amend the baselines of the Philippine Archipelago defined and 
delineated under Republic Act No. 3046, as amended by Republic Act No. 5446, to conform to 
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly Article 47 thereof which 
provides: 
Art. 47. Archipelagic baselines 
1. 
An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines joining the 
outermost points of the outermost islands and drying reefs of the archipelago 
provided that within such baselines are included the main islands and an area in 
which the ratio of the area of the water to the area of the land, including atolls, is 
between 1 to 1 and 9 to 1. 
The length of such baselines shall not exceed 100 nautical miles, except that up to 3 
per cent of the total number of baselines enclosing any archipelago may exceed that 
length, up to a maximum length of 125 nautical miles. 
The drawing of such baselines shall not depart to any appreciable extent from the 
general configuration of the archipelago. 
2. 
3. 
xxx 
xxx 
xxx 
It bears stressing that under Article 48 of the Convention, "the breadth of the territorial 
sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf shall be 
measured from archipelagic baselines drawn in accordance with article 47." 
The bill likewise reiterates our sovereignty over the Kalayaan Group of Islands declared 
as part of the Philippine territory under Presidential Decree No. 1596. As part of the Philippine 
territory, they shall be considered as a "regime of islands" under Article 121 of the Convention. 
Under Article 46 of the Convention, "Archipelagic States" are explicitly acknowledged 
and they may be constituted "wholly by one or more archipelagos and may include other islands". 
v 
Senator 
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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
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S E N A T E  
S. B. No. 
Introduced by Senator Biazon 
AN ACT 
TO AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3046, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Section 1 of Republic Act No. 3046, entitled “An Act to Define the Baselines of 
the Territorial Sea of the Philippines”, as amended by Section 1 of Republic Act No. 5446, is hereby 
amended to read as follows. 
“Section 1. The archipelagic baselines of the Philippines shall be measured from basepoints 
that are hereby defined and described specifically as follows: 
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World Geodetic Svsfem of 1984 
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SECTION 2. The Kalayaan Island Group declared as belonging and subject to the sovereignty 
of the Philippines under Presidential Decree No. 1596 shall be considered as a “regime of islands” 
under Article 121 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 
SECTION 3. This Act shall be without prejudice to Philippine dominion and sovereignty over 
all portions of the national territory as defined under Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of the 
Philippines and by applicable laws. 
SECTION 4. If any portion or provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the 
other portions or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and 
effect. 
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect fifteen days following its publication in the Official 
Gazette in any two newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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