Jakarta sea lanes can guide PHL
A SENATOR has suggested that Congress pattern after Indonesia’s established archipelagic sea lanes the crafting of the Philippines’ own sea lanes, amid rising tension with China over disputed areas of the South China Sea that are closest to Manila.
“It will really guide the committee in approaching all of the issues concerned considering that Indonesia is the only country with the sea lanes coming from the group of 22 countries,” Senator Francis N. Tolentino said on Wednesday.
As head of the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty, Mr. Tolentino asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) during the panel’s hearing to look into the Indonesian law that established its sea lanes in 2008.
The Senate is set to debate in plenary a bill seeking to set Philippine maritime zones and territories extending to disputed areas in the South China Sea.
Among the key provisions of the Indonesian law that will be looked into is the measurement of its archipelagic baselines, the longest of which extends about 124 nautical miles.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has filed four diplomatic protests against China over incursions in the South China Sea in January, Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza said in a WhatsApp Message.
She said the government had filed 66 diplomatic protests last year.
Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened after the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons to block Manila’s delivery of food and other supplies to Filipino troops stationed at a World War II-era warship intentionally grounded on a shoal to stake the Philippines’ claim on the waterway. — John Victor D. Ordoñez