The entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on November 16, 1994, created an internationally-recognized legal framework for management of the planet's oceans with the support of a great majority of nation states. The Philippines is a mid-ocean archipelago with definite maritime interests, straddling the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea and Celebes Sea, as well as enclosing the Sulu Sea is at the crossroads of international shipping and within a unique nexus of maritime interests of foreign nations. Yet since it signed the Convention in 1982, no concrete action for implementation has been taken in response to its eventual entry into force.
The main issue preventing the implementation of the Convention is its impact on the national territory. This paper intends to delve into this issue by providing an overview of the development of our national territory laws and the historical context for the introduction of the Convention. Thereafter, the impact of the Convention in the light of the current state of the law is briefly discussed and recommendations are made on what needs to be done. It is hoped that, as a result, the serious discussion may be provoked as to what steps the Government should take to see its way clear out of what will be shown to be an intricate legal and historical problem.