The exclusive economic zone of the Philippines (Philippine
EEZ) mandated by
UNCLOS consists of four subzones.[1]
It covers 2,263,816 square kilometers (874,064 sq mi) of sea. The Philippines has 7,641 islands comprising the
Philippine archipelago.[2] The coordinates are between 116° 40', and 126° 34' E
longitude and 4° 40' and 21° 10' N
latitude. It is bordered by the
Philippine Sea[3] to the east and north, the
South China Sea[4] to the west, and the
Celebes Sea[5] to the south.
In July 2016, the Arbitral Tribunal set up under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Hague ruled against China's nine-dash line demarcation. As the
Council on Foreign Relations wrote at the time, "The panel found that China’s claims of historic rights within the nine-dash line, which Beijing uses to demarcate its claims in the South China Sea, were without legal foundation. The panel also concluded that Beijing’s activities within the Philippines’ two-hundred-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), such as illegal fishing and environmentally ruinous artificial island construction, infringed on Manila’s sovereign rights."
On April 15, 2021, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported that approximately 240,000 kilos (260 tons) of fish have been illegally taken by Chinese fishing vessels in the
South China Sea every day. The Chinese fishing vessels illegally operate around the
Union Banks and
Thitu Island (Pag-asa Islands).[9] The overfishing causes the depletion of marine resources.[9] During the same month, an estimated 240 Chinese vessels were patrolling throughout the South China Sea.[9]
In November 2021, two Filipino military supply boats were blocked by three
Chinese coast guard ships which also fired
water cannons.[10] The supply vessels were headed to
Second Thomas Shoal within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.[10] The atoll has been occupied by a Philippine military contingent since 1999. The incident was strongly condemned by Philippine Foreign Secretary
Teodoro Locsin and former Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte.[10][11]
Map prepared by the NAMRIA, with the green line showing the maximum extent of the EEZ (ignoring landmass of neighboring countries) and the theoretical EEZ based on median line in purple.
^C.Michael Hogan. 2011.
"Celebes Sea". Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. P. Saundry & C.J. Cleveland. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington, DC