Business

Glenne B. Lagura

Assigned Situation/Topic:

Border Control

Effective governments have strong borders. The national government decides which persons and goods shall enter and which shall not. Failure to control a country’s borders leaves the wealth creating process inside the country open to any disruption from outside trends.

Cited Scenario:

Philippines’ ownership to Spratly Island

Fact:

Spratlys Islands or Kalayaan Island Group is just within the Philippines' proximity and 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone - under the International Laws Sea - UNCLOS. The Philippines as the closest and archipelagic country of the Spratly island with another Five Asian countries claim the Spratly Islands including - China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

In 1971, the Philippines officially claimed eight islands that it refers to as the Kalayaan, partly on the basis of this exploration, arguing that the islands: 1) were not part of the Spratly Islands; and 2) had not belonged to anybody and were open to being claimed. In 1972, they were designated as part of Palawan Province, Kalayaan municipality. The total land area of these islands is 790,000 sq meters.

The Philippines control the following islands in the Spratlys:

1. Kota or Loaita Island

2. Lawak or Nansham Island

3. Likas or West York Island

4. Panata or Lamkian Cay

5. Pag-asa or Thitu Island

6. Parola or North East Cay

7. Patag or Flat Island

8. Rizal or Commodore Reef

Chosen Discussion:

How the country Philippines protect its intellectual property rights on the eight (8) officially claimed islands in Spratly?

Action Taken:

In various conferences of the United Nations (UN) on the law of the sea, the Philippines proposed that an archipelagic state composed of groups of islands forming a state is a single unit, with the islands and the waters within the baselines as internal waters.

Result:...