Fear or love of China? Davide says draft charter skipped West PHL Sea in territory

The federal constitution drafted by President Rodrigo Duterte's Consultative Committee skipped any mention of the West Philippine Sea in provisions on national territory, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide said on Tuesday.

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Davide indicated that the Duterte administration probably didn't want to offend China by any mention of the Philippines' claims in the South China Sea.

"It deliberately did not mention the name West Philippine Sea but it specifically mentioned the Philippine Rise," Davide said at the Senate hearing on the proposed constitutional revision.

"Why not clearly mention the West Philippine Sea? Because of the administrative fear of or love for China?" he added.

The draft charter's Article One on the national territory provides that, "The Philippines has sovereignty over its territory, consisting of the islands and waters encompassed by its archipelagic baselines, its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, and its airspace. It has sovereignty over islands and features outside its archipelagic baselines  pursuant to the laws of the Federal Republic, the law of nations, and the judgments of competent international courts or tribunals. It likewise has sovereignty over other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic right or legal title."

"The Philippines has sovereign rights over that maritime expanse beyond its territorial sea to the extent reserved to it by international law, as well as over its extended continental shelf, including the Philippine Rise. Its citizens shall enjoy the right to all resources within these areas," it added.

Malacañang has repeatedly said that the Duterte administration had not abandoned the country's claims in the South China Sea. 

Duterte, however, early during his term set aside the arbitral tribunal ruling upheld the Philippines' claims and that invalidated China's nine-dash-line theory. —NB, GMA News