Territories claimed by the Philippines
Encyclopedia
The Republic of the Philippines had claimed many lands throughout its history. These include the Spratly Islands
, Sabah
, Scarborough Shoal
, Benham Plateau
, Palmas or Miangas Island, the Sangir Islands, Orchid Island
, Marianas Islands and Caroline Islands
.
Philippines established a municipality named Kalayaan
under the province of Palawan
for all the features they occupied.
See Spratly Islands
for more details.
, is currently disputed between Malaysia and the Philippines. Presently, Sabah is one of the states that formed Malaysia in 1963. Despite that, the Philippines and the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu have made claims to the territory though the claim is currently dormant.
On 23 January 1878, in exchange for modern weapons with which to keep Spanish colonizers away from the Sulu Archipelago
, the ruler of Sulu, Sultan Jamalul Alam, leased the territory of North Borneo to Gustavus von Overbeck, an Austrian who was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire's consul-general in Hong Kong
. This was accomplished via a trading company belonging to von Overbeck's British partner Alfred Dent, and later via the British North Borneo Company
. Von Overbeck procured the necessary firearms and also paid the Muslim dignitary an annual sum equivalent to 5,000 Malaysian dollars (now known as ringgit).
The key word in the agreement was "padjak," which has been translated by American
, Dutch
and Spanish linguists to mean "lease" or "arrendamiento." The agreement further states explicitly that the rights to the territory may not be transferred to a nation or another company without the sultan's expressed permission.
In 1906 and in 1920, the United States
formally reminded Great Britain
that North Borneo did not belong to the Crown and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu. However, the British did turn Sabah into a Crown leased Colony. The Philippine Constitution of 1941 states that the national territory of the Philippines included, among other things, "all other areas which belong to the Philippines on the basis of historical rights or legal claims." Malaysia was federated in 16 September 1963. Even before Sabah was incorporated into Malaysia, the Philippines sent delegations to London reminding the British Crown that Sabah belonged to the Philippines.
Malaysia insists that Sabah is under the sovereignty of Malaysia based on the fact that under agreements that Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent secured with the Brunei Sultanate on 29 December 1877 and the Sulu Sultanate on 22 January 1878, the sultanate of Sulu agreed to lease Sabah to Malaysia. The British Crown renewed the lease on 15 July 1946, but finally ceded Sabah to Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Malaysia is still believed to be paying the annual rent to the Sultan of Sulu.
Malaysian control was further strengthened by two referendums: the first facilitated by the United Nations
-backed Cobbold Commission
, from February to April 1962 and the second before the formation of Malaysia in September 1963. Both referendums recorded 70% of Sabahan population voting for Sabah to be part of Malaysia.
or Panatag Shoal or Huangyan Island (黄岩岛), more correctly described as a group of islands, atolls, and reefs than a shoal
, is located in the Luzon Sea or South China Sea. The nearest landmass is Palauig
town, Zambales
province, Luzon Island, with only 221 kilometers. It is about 123 miles west of Subic Bay
.
Both the Philippines and the People's Republic of China
claim it.
The Philippines base their claim on its proximity, its Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ), and the principle of terra nullius
(which can only be valid if no one ever owned it before).
The Chinese basis for claim is that the shoal would have been first discovered by Chinese in the 13th century and historically used by Chinese fishermen.
Many Chinese fishermen were already arrested here by the Philippine Navy for using illegal fishing methods and catching of endangered sea species.
and the United States
which was heard by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
.
This case is one of the most highly influential precedents dealing with island territorial conflicts.
Palmas, also referred to as Miangas, is an island of little economic value or strategic location. It is two miles in length, three-quarters of a mile in width, and had a population of about 750 when the decision of the arbitrator was handed down. The island is located between Mindanao
, Philippines
and the northernmost island, known as Nanusa, of what was the former Netherlands East Indies. In 1898, Spain
ceded the Philippines to the United States and Palmas sat within the boundaries of that cession to the U.S. In 1906, the United States discovered that the Netherlands also claimed sovereignty over the island and the two parties agreed to submit to binding arbitration to resolve the dispute on January 23, 1925. The arbitrator in the case was Max Huber, a Swiss national.
The question the arbitrator was to resolve was whether the Island of Palmas (Miangas), in its entirety, was a part of the territory of the United States or the Netherlands.
The arbitrator ruled in favor of the Netherlands' position and stated that the Netherlands held actual title to Palmas:
For these reasons The Arbitrator in conformity with Article I of the Special Agreement of January 23, 1925 DECIDES that : THE ISLAND OF PALMAS (or MIANGAS) forms in its entirety a part of the Netherlands territory done at The Hague, this fourth day of April 1928 Max Huber, Arbitrator Michiels van Verduynen, Secretary-General
In the first of the United States' two arguments, the United States argued that it held the island because it had received actual title through legitimate treaties from the original "discoverer" of the island, Spain. The United States argued that Spain acquired title to Palmas when Spain discovered the island and the island was terra nullius
. Spain's title to the island, because it was a part of the Philippines, was then ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898) after Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War. The arbitrator noted that no new international law invalidated the legal transfer of territory via cession.
However, the arbitrator noted that Spain could not legally grant what it did not hold and the Treaty of Paris could not grant to the United States Palmas if Spain had no actual title to it. The arbitrator concluded that Spain held an inchoate title when Spain “discovered” Palmas. However, for a sovereign to maintain its initial title via discovery, the arbitrator said that the discoverer had to actually exercise authority, even if it were a simple an act as planting a flag on the beach. In this case, Spain did not exercise authority over the island after making an initial claim after discovery and so the United States' claim was based on relatively weak grounds.
The United States also argued that Palmas was United States territory because the island was closer to the Philippines than to Indonesia, which was then held by the Netherlands East Indies. The arbitrator said there was no positive international law which favored the United States' approach of terra firma, where the nearest continent or island of considerable size gives title to the land in dispute. The arbitrator held that mere proximity was not an adequate claim to land noted that if the international community followed the proposed United States approach, it would lead to arbitrary results.
The Netherlands' primary contention was that it held actual title because the Netherlands had exercised authority on the island since 1677. The arbitrator noted that the United States had failed to show documentation proving Spanish sovereignty on the island except those documents that specifically mentioned the island's discovery. Additionally, there was no evidence that Palmas was a part of the judicial or administrative organization of the Spanish government of the Philippines. However, the Netherlands showed that the East India Company had negotiated treaties with the local princes of the island since the 17th century and had exercised sovereignty, including a requirement of Protestantism and the denial of other nationals on the island. The arbitrator pointed out that if Spain had actually exercised authority, than there would have been conflicts between the two countries but none are provided in the evidence.
Under the Palmas decision, three important rules for resolving island territorial disputes were decided:
Firstly, title based on contiguity has no standing in international law.
Secondly, title by discovery is only an inchoate title.
Finally, if another sovereign begins to exercise continuous and actual sovereignty, (and the arbitrator required that the claim had to be open and public and with good title), and the discoverer does not contest this claim, the claim by the sovereign that exercises authority is greater than a title based on mere discovery.
However, up to this day, several Philippine legislators claim that the island cannot be part of Indonesia
today because the ethnic group living in this island is far more related by language to the Sarangani
people of Mindanao than any ethnic group in Indonesia (e.g., Minahasa
). However this is not entirely true, since languages spoken in Miangas such as Sangir
and Talaud are spoken also in North Sulawesi
province with significant numbers.
Currently, the Philippine Government has no desire to contest the sovereignty of Indonesian Government over Miangas Island and respect the Indonesian administration over the Island.
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...
, Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
, Scarborough Shoal
Scarborough Shoal
Scarborough Shoal or Scarborough Reef , more correctly described as a group of islands and reefs in an atoll shape than a shoal, is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon, Philippines in the South China Sea. As with most of the landforms in this sea, the sovereignty of the area is disputed...
, Benham Plateau
Benham Plateau
Benham Plateau , also known as the Benham Rise, is a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge east of the Philippines, in the Philippine Sea. Under the Philippine Sea lies a number of Basins including the West Philippine Basin of which inside the Basin is located the Central...
, Palmas or Miangas Island, the Sangir Islands, Orchid Island
Orchid Island
Orchid Island is a 45-km² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County...
, Marianas Islands and Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
.
Spratly Islands
Philippines claim 52 features in the Spratly Island Group. Among these, Philippines were only able to occupy 7 islands and 2 reefs. These include Thitu (Pagasa) island (2nd largest), West York (Likas) island (3rd largest), Northeast (Parola) cay (5th largest), Nanshan (Lawak) island, Loaita (Kota) island, Flat (Patag) island, Lankiam (Panata) cay, Commodore (Rizal) reef, Irving (Balagtas) reef and Second Thomas (Ayungin) reef. Other features claimed by the Philippines were either occupied by Vietnam, China, Taiwan or Malaysia or unoccupied by any other countries. Parts of Spratly Islands group that is not claimed by the Philippines are those that are near to Vietnam. The farthest feature that they claim is Ladd Reef which is nearer to and occupied by Vietnam.Philippines established a municipality named Kalayaan
Kalayaan, Palawan
Kalayaan is a 6th class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 114 people in 12 households....
under the province of Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
for all the features they occupied.
See Spratly Islands
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines and Malaysia , about one third of the way from there to southern Vietnam. They comprise less than four square kilometers of land...
for more details.
Sabah
The status of the territory of Sabah, previously known as North BorneoNorth Borneo
North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...
, is currently disputed between Malaysia and the Philippines. Presently, Sabah is one of the states that formed Malaysia in 1963. Despite that, the Philippines and the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu have made claims to the territory though the claim is currently dormant.
On 23 January 1878, in exchange for modern weapons with which to keep Spanish colonizers away from the Sulu Archipelago
Sulu Archipelago
The Sulu Archipelago is a chain of islands in the southwestern Philippines. This archipelago is considered to be part of the Moroland by the local rebel independence movement. This island group forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea....
, the ruler of Sulu, Sultan Jamalul Alam, leased the territory of North Borneo to Gustavus von Overbeck, an Austrian who was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire's consul-general in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. This was accomplished via a trading company belonging to von Overbeck's British partner Alfred Dent, and later via the British North Borneo Company
British North Borneo Company
The North Borneo Chartered Company or British North Borneo Company was a chartered company assigned to administer North Borneo in August 1881. North Borneo became a protectorate of the British Empire with internal affairs administered by the company until 1946 when it became the colony of British...
. Von Overbeck procured the necessary firearms and also paid the Muslim dignitary an annual sum equivalent to 5,000 Malaysian dollars (now known as ringgit).
The key word in the agreement was "padjak," which has been translated by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
and Spanish linguists to mean "lease" or "arrendamiento." The agreement further states explicitly that the rights to the territory may not be transferred to a nation or another company without the sultan's expressed permission.
In 1906 and in 1920, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
formally reminded Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
that North Borneo did not belong to the Crown and was still part of the Sultanate of Sulu. However, the British did turn Sabah into a Crown leased Colony. The Philippine Constitution of 1941 states that the national territory of the Philippines included, among other things, "all other areas which belong to the Philippines on the basis of historical rights or legal claims." Malaysia was federated in 16 September 1963. Even before Sabah was incorporated into Malaysia, the Philippines sent delegations to London reminding the British Crown that Sabah belonged to the Philippines.
Malaysia insists that Sabah is under the sovereignty of Malaysia based on the fact that under agreements that Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent secured with the Brunei Sultanate on 29 December 1877 and the Sulu Sultanate on 22 January 1878, the sultanate of Sulu agreed to lease Sabah to Malaysia. The British Crown renewed the lease on 15 July 1946, but finally ceded Sabah to Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Malaysia is still believed to be paying the annual rent to the Sultan of Sulu.
Malaysian control was further strengthened by two referendums: the first facilitated by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-backed Cobbold Commission
Cobbold Commission
The Cobbold Commission, was a Commission of Enquiry set up to determine whether the people of North Borneo and Sarawak supported the proposal to create the Malaysia consisting of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak. It was also responsible for the subsequent drafting of the Constitution...
, from February to April 1962 and the second before the formation of Malaysia in September 1963. Both referendums recorded 70% of Sabahan population voting for Sabah to be part of Malaysia.
Scarborough Shoal
The Scarborough ShoalScarborough Shoal
Scarborough Shoal or Scarborough Reef , more correctly described as a group of islands and reefs in an atoll shape than a shoal, is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon, Philippines in the South China Sea. As with most of the landforms in this sea, the sovereignty of the area is disputed...
or Panatag Shoal or Huangyan Island (黄岩岛), more correctly described as a group of islands, atolls, and reefs than a shoal
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
, is located in the Luzon Sea or South China Sea. The nearest landmass is Palauig
Palauig, Zambales
Palauig is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 30,747 people in 5,945 households....
town, Zambales
Zambales
Zambales is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Iba. Zambales borders Pangasinan to the north, Tarlac and Pampanga to the east, and Bataan to the south. The province lies between the South China Sea and the Zambales Mountains. With a land area of...
province, Luzon Island, with only 221 kilometers. It is about 123 miles west of Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
.
Both the Philippines and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
claim it.
The Philippines base their claim on its proximity, its Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
(EEZ), and the principle of terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
(which can only be valid if no one ever owned it before).
The Chinese basis for claim is that the shoal would have been first discovered by Chinese in the 13th century and historically used by Chinese fishermen.
Many Chinese fishermen were already arrested here by the Philippine Navy for using illegal fishing methods and catching of endangered sea species.
Palmas or Miangas Island
It involved a territorial dispute over the Island of Palmas (or Miangas) between the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
which was heard by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.-History:The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution.The creation of...
.
This case is one of the most highly influential precedents dealing with island territorial conflicts.
Palmas, also referred to as Miangas, is an island of little economic value or strategic location. It is two miles in length, three-quarters of a mile in width, and had a population of about 750 when the decision of the arbitrator was handed down. The island is located between Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and the northernmost island, known as Nanusa, of what was the former Netherlands East Indies. In 1898, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
ceded the Philippines to the United States and Palmas sat within the boundaries of that cession to the U.S. In 1906, the United States discovered that the Netherlands also claimed sovereignty over the island and the two parties agreed to submit to binding arbitration to resolve the dispute on January 23, 1925. The arbitrator in the case was Max Huber, a Swiss national.
The question the arbitrator was to resolve was whether the Island of Palmas (Miangas), in its entirety, was a part of the territory of the United States or the Netherlands.
The arbitrator ruled in favor of the Netherlands' position and stated that the Netherlands held actual title to Palmas:
For these reasons The Arbitrator in conformity with Article I of the Special Agreement of January 23, 1925 DECIDES that : THE ISLAND OF PALMAS (or MIANGAS) forms in its entirety a part of the Netherlands territory done at The Hague, this fourth day of April 1928 Max Huber, Arbitrator Michiels van Verduynen, Secretary-General
In the first of the United States' two arguments, the United States argued that it held the island because it had received actual title through legitimate treaties from the original "discoverer" of the island, Spain. The United States argued that Spain acquired title to Palmas when Spain discovered the island and the island was terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
. Spain's title to the island, because it was a part of the Philippines, was then ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898) after Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War. The arbitrator noted that no new international law invalidated the legal transfer of territory via cession.
However, the arbitrator noted that Spain could not legally grant what it did not hold and the Treaty of Paris could not grant to the United States Palmas if Spain had no actual title to it. The arbitrator concluded that Spain held an inchoate title when Spain “discovered” Palmas. However, for a sovereign to maintain its initial title via discovery, the arbitrator said that the discoverer had to actually exercise authority, even if it were a simple an act as planting a flag on the beach. In this case, Spain did not exercise authority over the island after making an initial claim after discovery and so the United States' claim was based on relatively weak grounds.
The United States also argued that Palmas was United States territory because the island was closer to the Philippines than to Indonesia, which was then held by the Netherlands East Indies. The arbitrator said there was no positive international law which favored the United States' approach of terra firma, where the nearest continent or island of considerable size gives title to the land in dispute. The arbitrator held that mere proximity was not an adequate claim to land noted that if the international community followed the proposed United States approach, it would lead to arbitrary results.
The Netherlands' primary contention was that it held actual title because the Netherlands had exercised authority on the island since 1677. The arbitrator noted that the United States had failed to show documentation proving Spanish sovereignty on the island except those documents that specifically mentioned the island's discovery. Additionally, there was no evidence that Palmas was a part of the judicial or administrative organization of the Spanish government of the Philippines. However, the Netherlands showed that the East India Company had negotiated treaties with the local princes of the island since the 17th century and had exercised sovereignty, including a requirement of Protestantism and the denial of other nationals on the island. The arbitrator pointed out that if Spain had actually exercised authority, than there would have been conflicts between the two countries but none are provided in the evidence.
Under the Palmas decision, three important rules for resolving island territorial disputes were decided:
Firstly, title based on contiguity has no standing in international law.
Secondly, title by discovery is only an inchoate title.
Finally, if another sovereign begins to exercise continuous and actual sovereignty, (and the arbitrator required that the claim had to be open and public and with good title), and the discoverer does not contest this claim, the claim by the sovereign that exercises authority is greater than a title based on mere discovery.
However, up to this day, several Philippine legislators claim that the island cannot be part of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
today because the ethnic group living in this island is far more related by language to the Sarangani
Sarangani
In 1945, Filipino troops of the 6th, 10th, 101st and 102nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and 10th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary entered and liberated in Southern Cotabato In 1945, Filipino troops of the 6th, 10th, 101st and 102nd Infantry Division of the...
people of Mindanao than any ethnic group in Indonesia (e.g., Minahasa
Minahasa
The Minahasa are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes...
). However this is not entirely true, since languages spoken in Miangas such as Sangir
Sangir language
Sangirese, also known as Sangihé, Sangi, Sangih, and Sangil, is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines....
and Talaud are spoken also in North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the west . The islands of Sangihe and Talaud form the northern part of the province, which border Davao del Sur in the Philippines.The capital and largest city in North Sulawesi is...
province with significant numbers.
Currently, the Philippine Government has no desire to contest the sovereignty of Indonesian Government over Miangas Island and respect the Indonesian administration over the Island.