PNoy cannot ignore UNCLOS remedy - Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs

The complaint for arbitration against the People’s Republic of China filed with the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea is mainly to defend the Philippine’s sovereign rights over its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, and to reserve the right to request for provisional measures should these become necessary.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which both the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China are states parties, determines the legal order of the oceans and seas and defines the maritime areas of coastal states. Under UNCLOS, coastal states are entitled to have the following maritime areas as defined therein: territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.