PHOTO EXHIBIT ON ARCHIPELAGIC STATES TAKES CENTER STAGE IN NEW YORK
PHOTO EXHIBIT ON ARCHIPELAGIC STATES TAKES CENTER STAGE IN NEW YORK NEW YORK – The Philippine Consulate General in New York opened the exhibit entitled, “Archipelagic States: Identity, Consciousness and Law” at the Philippine Center in New York to highlight the Philippines’ unique identity as an archipelago and its contribution to the development of the archipelagic states regime in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The opening ceremony was attended by members of the diplomatic and consular corps in New York as well as Master of Laws candidates from Cornell University, Harvard University, and Fordham University. Philippine Consul General Senen Mangalile, in his welcome remarks, stated that “As an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, the Philippines championed the archipelagic principle, an important concept that unites land, water, and people into a single legal entity, in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.” He added that the eventual recognition and incorporation of the principle in the UNCLOS is a milestone in advancing the Philippine’s vital interest as an archipelagic state, and asserting its identity and territory as indelibly imprinted in its Constitution. Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of…