Charles Teves
Manila Bulletin columnist Anna Mae Lamentillo had to correct herself after claiming Malacañang aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was the principal author of the baselines law during his time in Congress.
“As legislator, one of the most important pieces of legislation that BBM (Marcos) authored is the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (R.A. 9522), which defines what constitutes the Philippine territorial sea.” Lamentillo said in a column dated January 12.
However, it was Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco who authored Republic Act 9522 or the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law who later filed House Bill 1202 in July 2017 and substituted it with HB 3216.
https://twitter.com/call_me_jas0n/status/1481549493929938948?s=20
Senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Aquilino Pimentel III, Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor Santiago then introduced SB 2699.
RA 9522 amends certain provisions of Republic Act 3046 to identify the archipelagic baselines of the Philippines.
Marcos was one of three representatives who filed supplemental bills on the Baselines Law in 2008 but the bills had been “pending with the Foreign Affairs Committee” since April 2008 and haven’t reached a final version.
Jay Batongbacal, associate professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law and director of the university’s Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, was one of the few who fact-checked Lamentillo.
The columnist has since corrected it. Her column now reads: “As legislator, one of the most important pieces of legislation that BBM was a part of is the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (R.A. 9522), which defines what constitutes the Philippine territorial sea.
Her online column is still up but has been reworded: “authored” was replaced with the phrase “was a part of.”
She further explained Marcos’ role in the authorship of the bill.
Miriam Defensor-Santiago is the principal author of R.A. 9522. pic.twitter.com/swHNuAeHTB
— Tom (@MATom_MD) January 13, 2022
“If you keyed in ‘Baselines Law’ or ‘Archipelagic’ in your website search of the House of Representatives, HB 3969 would not appear since the BBM version did not carry a short title. But even assuming you want to discuss only HB 3216 which substituted HB 1202 — BBM would still be part of the House Conference Committee alongside Speaker Nograles, Cong Ablan, among others.” she wrote.
