DFA

Beijing last Sept. 10 bared its plan to establish a "national nature reserve" around Scarborough Shoal, which the Philippines calls Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag Shoal.

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Carpio maintained that Bajo de Masinloc, which China calls Huangyan Island, is within the Philippine territory based on historical records and on various laws, most recent of which is Republic Act 12064 or the Philippine Maritime Zones Act.

"China's declaration of a 'national nature reserve' at Bajo de Masinloc violates Philippine sovereignty because Bajo de Masinloc is Philippine territory under various laws. A state has the exclusive sovereign right to declare a nature reserve in its own territory and territorial sea," Carpio said.

He said the DFA must particularly debunk China's claim that the Philippine territory is limited to the islands ceded by Spain to the United States under the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which supposedly does not include Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

Carpio explained that a subsequent treaty between Spain and the United States — the 1900 Treaty of Washington — specifically stated that the Spanish government also ceded to the US other islands of the Philippines outside the Treaty of Paris lines.