Immediately after grabbing power from Marcos in 1986, Cory Aquino as head of the revolutionary government discarded the 1973 constitution and ordered the drafting of the 1987 Constitution still selectively in effect today. 

Now let us compare the 1973 and 1987 Philippine Constitution’s definition of Article I National Territory and you will notice the territories belonging to the Philippines “by historic or legal title,” has been omitted in the 1987 Constitution. 

1973 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

ARTICLE I – The National Territory

Section 1. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines BY HISTORIC OR LEGAL TITLE, including the territorial sea, the air space, the subsoil, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and the submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

http://www.chanrobles.com/1973constitutionofthephilippines.htm

THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

ARTICLE I – NATIONAL TERRITORY

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

http://www.chanrobles.com/1973constitutionofthephilippines.htm

Above: Mahatir Malaysia’s Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003 in this 2003 photo.

On April 15, 1988 Cory Cojuangco-Aqiuino apparently a deal with China to get rid the U.S. bases in Philippines and facilitate China’s occupation of the oil, gas and mineral rich Spratlys. 

In Feb. 2013 a one-side fight broke out in Sabah property of Sultan Kiram III Sultan of Sulu. The treacherous changes made in the Philippine constitution as reflected in the 1987 Constitution has started to bear fruit. 

And on March 6, 2013 the story came up.

 

Backtracking to Philippine-Chinese relations, Aquino III followed his mother’s footsteps and made a sentiment journey to trace his ancestral roots in China.

In Sept. 2011 President Aquino III visited the same temple his mother visited in 1988, (inset) Aquino III lighted an incense at the portrait of his mother.

In Pres. Obama & Aquino III’s joint press conference last April 28, 2014, when the South China Sea dispute was raised  Pres. Obama failed to mention the 25 TRILLION CU. METERS in NATURAL GAS RESERVES (900 TRILLION CU. FT.)  in the Spratlys area according to the U.S. EIA (Energy Information Administration) .

“Aquino III: *That (prosperity of our respective people) I think has to be the primordial concern, RATHER THAN DISPUTES ON A FEW ROCKS THAT ARE NOT POSSIBLE TO BE INHABITED.  And I think in due time, given the fact that there’s so much commerce that traverses this particular — both in the maritime and the air domain — China, which has achieved its goals of improving the life of its people, will see the soundness of this proposal and perhaps will act more, shall we say, consistently and actively towards achieving that stability for all.  That is our hope.”

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/28/remarks-president-obama-and-president-benigno-aquino-iii-philippines-joi

 

June 15, 2014 Happy Father’s Day! This is the latest on China’s grab of the oil, gas and mineral rich Spratlys that clearly belong to the former U.S. territory, the Philippines.