Territorial Disputes over West Philippine Sea forum

"Territorial Disputes over West Philippine Sea" forum set on Friday, 31 July 2015, 1:30pm at the AIMS Maritime College, in Pasay City with Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio as the guest speaker. , It is a joint project of the Maritime Law Association of the Philippines (MARLAW), AIMS and Maritime Forum, Inc.

The forum is in line with the  Cartographic Exhibit on “Historical Truths and Lies: Scarborough Shoal in Ancient Maps,” This exhibit provides a compelling argument against China’s claim of indisputable sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, as represented by its nine-dash line position, an excessive and expansive claim, that is in gross violation of international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.Under UNCLOS, a state cannot claim any “historical title” to the Exclusive Economic Zone or Extended Continental Shelf of another state.

 Based on the numerous ancient maps made by Westerners, and later by Philippine authorities, from 1636 to 1940, the exhibit corroborates the following:

• That Bajo de Masinloc, contrary to China’s assertions, has never been Chinese territory;
• That Bajo de Masinloc is part of the Philippines; and
• That Chinese maps failed to demonstrate the so-called “historic rights” claim by China over the waters, seabed and subsoil in the South China Sea.

 The forum supports our principled foreign policy position of defending what is rightfully and legitimately ours.