Arroyo signs into law bill claiming islands' sovereignty.

Manila: The Philippines has issued a statement saying that President Gloria Arroyo has signed into law a bill laying claim to disputed islands within the contentious Spratly Archipelago, which is wholly claimed by China.

"The president signed the bill last Tuesday, reaffirming the Philippines' claim to its territorial waters, including its extended shelf, economic zones, and the contested seven-island Kalayaan Group off Palawan in the southwestern Philippines, as well as the Scarborough Shoal on the country's western seaboard," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in a belated report yesterday.

"The Philippines government is asserting its sovereignty over the country's territorial area and economic zones because that is the right thing to do," said Ermita, adding that the passage of the bill in Congress was "in compliance with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS] and could help to clear up contentious claims to islands in the South China Sea".

He referred to the 1982 convention that regulates international use of the world's oceans. The UN has asked all countries to clarify their claims to contentious areas by May 13.

The Philippine Archipelagic Baseline Bill states that the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal are "regime islands" of the Philippines. Explaining the phrase, Foreign Affairs Executive Director Henry Bensulto said the Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal remain part of the country's territory, although they are classified as a "regime of islands".

An existing law already covers the Philippines' claim to the Kalayaan Island chain and the Scarborough Shoal, explained Bensulto, adding that the new law has clarified to the United Nations the inclusion of the new islands to the Philippines territory.

Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China had previously signed an agreement to avoid conflict in resolving overlapping claims in the South China Sea, said Bensulto, adding that the country's new claim should not push the Philippines and China into a war.

In February, the Chinese foreign minister lodged a stern protest with the Philippines' ChargE[umlaut] d'affaires Maria Barber, saying the bill passed by the Philippine Congress had violated China's "indisputable sovereignty" over the whole of the Spratly Archipelago.

Lauding the signing of the bill into law, Senator Manuel Roxas II said" "So what if they [China] complain? We too should complain that their claim is an affront to our sovereignty."

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