BASIC CONCEPT OF MARITIME SECURITY

Considering the 200-mile exclusive economic zone or EEZ, the Philippines have so much in natural resources to nurture and protect. In addition, is the very strategic location of our country in the Pacific area, thus making islands close to us as areas of contention.

A noted Australian expert on the Law of the Sea, Professor Anthony Bergin has identified five areas in which government must establish control in a country’s maritime regions:

The management of marine resources,
The maintenance of territorial integrity,
The protection and preservation of maritime environment,
The prevention of illegal activity and
The safety of life at sea.


To achieve this control, the coastal state must be capable of three basic tasks:

Surveillance
Monitoring
Enforcement

Definition of Maritime Security based on the National Marine Policy

MARITIME SECURITY is the state wherein the country’s marine assets, maritime practices, territorial integrity and coastal peace and order are protected, conserved and enhanced.

Definition of Maritime Security based on the state practice of other countries

Countries view maritime security primarily as a defense concept. Some countries, however, couple it with the concept of sound management of the ocean’s environment and resources, using the same capabilities utilized in the defense of the country.

Maritime security is a key component of national security. It is envisaged to:

provide a stable and peaceful socio-political and administrative environment in the country that posters sustained profitability and growth for maritime industries;
protect and defend the integrity of the Philippines marine resources;
ensure preparedness for an effective response to natural calamities and man-made disaster;
provide leadership and guidance in the proper and effective collection, processing and distribution of strategic information.

Coverage of Maritime Security

a. The fluvial and maritime jurisdiction of the Philippines consist of the waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago regardless of their breath and dimension denominated archipelagic waters;

The territorial sea (12 nm from the archipelagic baselines); the contiguous zone (24 nm from where the archipelagic sea is measure); the exclusive economic zone (200 nm adjacent to the territorial sea from baselines from which the territorial sea is measured) within which the Philippines has sovereign rights for the exploration and exploitation of living and non-living resources, establishments and use of artificial islands, installations and structures and the preservation of the marine environment.

The continental shelf, the sea bed and subsoil of the submarine area that extend beyond the territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin or to a distance of 200 nm form the baselines from which the territorial sea is measure where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.


The dynamics of national and International Policies on Maritime Security.

The constitution and the laws spell out the national policy for attainment of maritime security. Apart from such national laws, however, are international conventions, having the effect of law, which also deal with maritime security. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is such an international agreement.

The policies contained in UNCLOS on the following dimensions of maritime security:

a. Military Dimension
b. Environmental Dimension
c. And Food Dimension

The linkage of these dimensions to MARSEC is self-evident. Among themselves, the military dimension complements and supports the Environmental and Food dimensions of maritime security in the protection of the marine assets and territorial integrity of the country.

Military Dimension of MARSEC

The military dimensions of MARSEC are those policies designed to enhance, conserve and protect territorial integrity and coastal peace and order.

Summary of military security concerns engendered by UNCLOS and other International Agreements:

1. Archipelagic sea-lanes passage and over flight. Difficulty, if not impossibility of monitoring and enforcing rules. Consider the national policy embedded in the constitution of freedom from nuclear weapons in Philippine territory nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons at locations outside the US.
2. Innocent passage through archipelagic waters. Difficulty of monitoring and enforcement of rules.
3. Exclusive Economic Zone. Overlapping EEZ with neighboring country e.g. Indonesia.
4. Islands with EEZ or on continental shelf. Conflicting national claims or ownership, e.g. Mischief Reef, Scarborough Shoal.
5. Environmental laws, rules and regulations. Monitoring and enforcement insofar as concerns archipelagic sea lanes passages and over flight and innocent passage.
6. Food and security laws, rules and regulations. The likely negative effects of archipelagic sea lanes passage and innocent passage on food security. Also, fishing incursions by the foreign ships in the EEZ.

Other security concerns

Border crossing and border patrol agreements with Indonesia (1975) and Malaysia (1967) to regulate and facilitate the movement of nationals in the specified borders of both countries and enforcement of laws against common threat, like drug trafficking, hijacking, illegal entry, piracy, smuggling, theft of maritime resources and marine pollution.

RP’s involvement in the campaign against international terrorism,

Environmental Dimensions of MARSEC

The environmental dimension covers the policies on the preservation and protection of the marine environment so as to protect, conserve and enhance the country’s marine assets.

UNCLOS provision

An international legal frameworks for the protection and preservation of the marine environment which regulates all sources of marine pollution is established by UNCLOS.

States have the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment; to take, individually or jointly, all measures necessary to prevent pollution of the marine environment from any source, taking into account the best practicable means at their disposal and in accordance with their capabilities; to protect and preserve the marine environment in the exercise of their sovereign rights to exploit natural resources; to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction and control shall be conducted so as not to cause damage by pollution to other states and their environment

States must adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce and control pollution.

Food dimension of MARSEC

The food dimension on maritime security refers to those policies which serve to protect, conserve and enhance the country’s marine assets.

UNCLOS Provisions

The UNCLOS provision on EEZ contains the policies on conservation of the living resources of the zone, using the following method: termination of the allowable catch of living resources; maintenance of the living resources so that they are not endangered by over population; maintenance or restoration of harvested species of at levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield; maintenance of associated or dependent species at which their production may become seriously threatened.

National policy

Food security is to be achieved as the overriding consideration and protection of fishery resources in order to provide the food needs of the population: (a) flexible policy towards the attainment of food security shall be adopted in response to changes in demographic trends for fish, emerging trends in the trade of fish and other aquatic products in domestic and international markets and the law of supply and demand; (b) to limit access to the fishery and aquatic resources of the Philippines for the exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipino citizens; (c) to ensure the rational and sustainable development, management and conservation of the fishery and aquatic resources in the Philippine waters including the EEZ and in the adjacent high seas, consistent with the primordial objective of maintaining a sound ecological balance, protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment.