Sen. Tolentino supports bill establishing maritime zones as a counter move to China’s 10-dash line

Transcript

00:00 Knowing exactly where the nation's stake begins and ends will consolidate our

00:04 claim on what maritime territories the country owns or rightfully lay claim to

00:09 in accordance with international law. Hence the need to accurately delineate

00:13 and pinpoint exactly where and which belongs to the country by way of clearly

00:19 drawn maritime zones. Our Daniel Manalastas tells us more.

00:25 You can claim that. This is the response of Senator Francis

00:35 Torrentino when asked if the bill establishing a maritime zones aims to

00:39 counter the China's 10-line map. As one Senate panel started to tackle the

00:45 proposed measure, Torrentino noted that under the bill this could be a basis to

00:50 draw up a new Philippine map particularly stressing or illustrating its maritime

00:56 territories and waters.

00:58 It's stated in the UNCLOS that member states have a right to claim maritime zones.

01:02 It's not mandatory.

01:06 We have more than 132 countries that have created maritime zones.

01:13 We haven't done it yet.

01:15 So we need to do this.

01:17 Some experts believe the Philippines should have a clear and legitimate basis when

01:21 negotiating with other countries especially in territorial claims.

01:27 How can we negotiate with other countries if we are not sure of our own boundaries?

01:35 If we ask where do you want to go, we don't know what we want.

01:40 However they believe there is no guarantee China will honor our claims and they might say no.

01:46 It's up to them.

01:48 As a sovereign state, our step is to be ready to negotiate in good faith.

01:56 We want to negotiate and we have a basis.

02:00 And that basis is our maritime zones.

02:02 Torrentino sees more discussion and hearings in crafting this bill.

02:06 Daniel Manalastas for The Nation.

02:08 Nation.