By – Glen Palaca Hubahib, Esq.
Territory of the Philippines:
The delineation of the Philippine territory started to metamorphose after Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States when the former lost the war to the latter in the 1900’s. Also surrendered among others were Guam and Puerto Rico in what was known as the Treaty of Paris.
National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
The United States and Spain drew an imperfect rectangle where the lines from Palawan to Jolo zigzagging to include the territories on the Sultanate of Sulu. Malaysia and Sabah was occupied by another naval power, Great Britain, at that time. Hence, they cannot just expand the territory in the south. The Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal were not really part of our territory. Most were under the control of the Allied Powers after World War II and have English, Chinese and Vietnamese sounding names. Of course, we have Filipino names also. Because these islets or shoals or rocks have no women, US troops prefer to stay in Angeles, Subic, Danang, Okinawa.
The archipelagic doctrine is the internationally accepted boundaries for a country like the Philippines. You draw a base line of 12 miles from the low tide point of the land, and you connect the dots.
The Philippines constitution from 1935 to 1987 and laws have expanded our territorial claim to include the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and historical rights, e.g. Sabah issue. It is funny that Google Maps carved out a West Philippine Sea out of South China Sea. The World was already mapped out in early modernity. Just like the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Caribbean Sea, among others, the neighboring countries have overlapping EEZ claim.
So how does the Philippines protect its claim? The only way is to brute force its way through Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and China. Spend above 5% of its GDP to build and buy new generation strike jets, missile systems, air defenses and nuclear arsenal. The prudent way is to follow Sun Tzu’s advice in his “Art of War” – postpone fighting a strong enemy. Mine – eat a lot of 20-peso kilo rice because we have leaders, lawmakers and policy makers who are sending our soldiers to the meat grinder.
Birthright citizenship:
The United States follow the doctrine of citizenship by birth under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution. Those born in the United State are citizens regardless of the parent’s immigration status. Pres. Trump wants to strip the child of illegal alien of their citizenship. The basis is likely the Supreme Court case U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) that held that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese parents legally residing (underscore legally) was entitled to birthright citizenship and the now dropped pre-1966 State Department’s passport-application form which required applicants born in the U.S. to submit proof the father’s birth, residence, date of emigration and naturalization (if naturalized).
Haiyun Jiang for the New York Times
The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on the merits of the case. It is interesting how the court will walk through the minefield of politics and reason. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lower federal court judge injunction could not apply nationally. Hence, the injunction on Pres. Trump executive order remains in the 22 states that joined the lawsuit challenging the order.
[Note: Glen Palaca Hubahib is admitted to practice law in California and the Philippines. He also holds an Electrical Engineering and MBA degrees. He is a resource speaker every 1st Wednesday of the month of the highly rated “Open Forum” radio program of Ms. Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Gloria Leodivica Araneta at station DYTR. The article is for information only and is not a legal advice. Send your comments to the author at hubahibg@gmail.com.]