A RECENTLY enacted law defining the Philippines’ maritime zones has drawn sharp criticism from a former senior diplomat and geopolitical analyst, who said it misrepresents international law, weakens Philippine claims in disputed waters, and risks escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
Adolfo Quizon Paglinawan, who was press attaché and spokesman of the Philippine Embassy in Washington and the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, on Monday assailed the National Maritime Zones Act (Republic Act 12064), and accused officials and lawmakers of promoting a narrative that distorts international maritime law and contradicts the Philippines’ commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
“The law must essentially conform to Unclos, the rulings of the Arbitral Tribunal, and international law in general,” Paglinawan said. “Yet Section 14 boxes us in while presenting various violations and contradictions of these platforms.”
Paglinawan also criticized the Marcos administration’s reliance on military and coast guard operations over diplomacy in managing South China Sea disputes.
He said foreign policy should primarily be handled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) rather than security agencies.
“Our president has chosen a US rules-based order and zero-sum strategy when it defaulted foreign policy to the military and the coast guard and not to the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Paglinawan said the law was passed with minimal public debate, despite its legal and geopolitical implications.
He said it was rushed following the June 17, 2024 incident at Ayungin Shoal, where a Philippine Navy sailor lost his thumb during a confrontation with the China Coast Guard.
The event prompted Manila to seek a provisional arrangement with Beijing on resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, later formalized during the 10th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea in January 2025.
Among Paglinawan’s main objections is the inclusion of Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal).
He said that under Unclos, territorial seas are determined by sovereignty over land features.
Since China has exercised effective control over the shoal since 2012, the Philippines cannot unilaterally legislate its territorial sea through domestic law.
He also questioned the law’s reference to a “Luzon Sea,” arguing that it lacks any basis in international law or Philippine baseline legislation.
Paglinawan pointed out that Republic Act 9522, enacted in 2009, already defined the country’s baselines in line with Unclos, superseding historic treaty limits established under the 1898 Treaty of Paris.
“What is the basis of a Luzon Sea?” he said. “The only available reason would have been the treaty limits established by the 1898 Treaty of Paris.”
Paglinawan noted that the Philippines previously asserted historic rights within those treaty limits — a position recognized by China — but later shifted to a strict Unclos-based exclusive economic zone claim, a move he said benefited US strategic interests, even though the United States, while an Unclos signatory, has never ratified the convention.
He also criticized Section 14 of RA 12064, which incorporates Unclos and the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea into domestic law.
He said the provision effectively binds the Philippines to strict compliance with international rulings, while other sections of the law contradict those same instruments.
Paglinawan said he raised these concerns during a House of Representatives committee hearing on June 5, 2025, calling the law “stupid.”
He said lawmakers focused more on taking offense at his language than addressing the substance of his arguments.
He further alleged that the law has been used to justify more assertive actions in disputed waters, potentially undermining diplomatic efforts with China.
Despite public rhetoric on defending maritime rights, Paglinawan argued that surveys show most Filipinos do not consider territorial integrity as among their top concerns.
Paglinawan is currently vice president for international affairs at the Asian Century Philippines Institute, and continues to work as a geopolitical analyst, author and broadcast journalist.