You are on page 1of 5

Divine Word College of Calapan

Reflection Paper
Readings in Philippine History
(The 1987 Constitution Preamble)
(Section I Article I)
(Philippine Map)

Submited by:

Justine Erron B. Nava

BSA-1 (45052)

Submitted to:

Sir Cyrus Maravilla


The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines Preamble:

A Reflection

By: Justine Erron B. Nava

“We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty


God, in order to build a just and humane society, and establish a
Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the
common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to
ourselves and our posterity, the blessings of independence and
democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice,
freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.”

The Philippine preamble is very ideal. If every single Filipino


would make this as a pedestal and put every word in the heart and
live with it, for sure there will be peace and prosperity in our
nation.

It is stated that we, the Filipino are sovereign and imploring


the aid of our Almighty God, therefore if God is with us who can be
against us? There is no need for us to crave for more and be greedy
for power. There’s no need for us to step on others right just to be
sovereign. Let us all show our Sovereignty by our good works and
intention without any façade. Let us all take the opportunity to help
and give mercy to the unfortunate for us to be called Sovereign.

We, Filipino should conserve the effort, and the suffering of


our ancestors just to gain freedom. Let us not fight with each other,
instead we should give love and not war. We should live by the
common law for it projects the social order that enable us
individually to attain the fullest development economically,
politically, culturally and spiritually.
Section I Article I of the 1987 Constitution: National Territory

Territory of the Pearl of the Orient Seas

By: Justine Erron B. Nava

“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.”

The national territory of the Philippines can be described by


its archipelagic principle. ARCHIPELAGIC PRINCIPLE has two elements,
the definition of internal and the straight baseline method of
delineating the territorial sea which consists of drawing straight
lines connecting the outermost points on the coast without departing
to any appreciable extent from the general direction of the coast.
Important distances with respect to the waters around the Philippines
are the Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone and Exclusive Economic. The
Territorial Sea has 12 nautical miles, The Contiguous Zone 12
nautical miles from the edge of the territorial sea and Exclusive
Economic Zone 200 nautical miles from the baseline. There can be
a Continental Shelf without an EEZ, but not an EEZ without
a Continental Shelf. Territorial Sea is the belt of the sea located
between the coast and internal waters of the coastal state on the one
hand, and the high seas on the other, extending up to 12 nautical
miles from the low water mark. Contiguous Zone is extending up to 12
nautical miles from the territorial sea. Although not part of the
territory, the coastal State may exercise jurisdiction to prevent
infringement of customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws.
Exclusive Economic is the body of water extending up to 200 nautical
miles, within which the state may exercise sovereign rights to
explore, exploit, conserve and manage the natural resources. The
state in the EEZ exercises jurisdiction with regard to: the
establishment and use of artificial islands, installations, and
structures; the marine scientific research; and the protection and
preservation of marine environment.

In summary, our country is a vast country containing different


riches in our own territory. But I think that the government lacks
action in securing our own. We have many territories included in our
EEZ that has been continuously used and deprived of by another
country. Where is our commitment that we will protect our own
Motherland? I just hope that the government will take measures to
resolve this issue.
A Reflection: Philippine Map

By: Justine Erron B. Nava

The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises over 7,000


islands with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers
(115,831 sq mi). The 11 largest islands contain 95% of the total
land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at about 105,000
square kilometers (40,541 sq mi). The next largest island
is Mindanao at about 95,000 square kilometers (36,680 sq mi). The
archipelago is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) from the Asian mainland
and is located between Taiwan and Borneo.

The Philippine archipelago is divided into three island


groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Luzon islands include Luzon
itself, Palawan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Masbate, Romblon, Catanduanes,
Batanes and Polilio. The Visayas is the group of islands in the
central Philippines, the largest of which
are: Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Siquijor, Biliran and
Guimaras. The Mindanao islands include Mindanao
itself, Dinagat, Siargao, Camiguin, Samal, plus the Sulu Archipelago,
composed primarily of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

The Pearl of the Orient Seas is a vast archipelago containing


more than 7,000 islands. A hard thing to do is to memorize the places
here until this activity was given. What seemed impossible for me
slowly became possible. We studied the Philippine Map. This activity
did not simply just enhance my geographical knowledge about the
country, but more importantly, it allowed me to be more related to my
very own Motherland. Before, I am like a Filipino foreigner in the
Philippines. But due to this task, I came to know different places
that I’ve just been hearing in the news or I had read on the books.
It made me feel more connected to the Philippines. The secret here is
not to memorize it by the mind but familiarize it with your heart.

You might also like