PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Valeriano Del Rosario, Daphne Ruby Grasparil, Patrick Sarmiento and Maria Francesca Bautista, VeraLaw
1. Maritime and Shipping Legislation and Regulation 1.1 Domestic Laws Establishing the Authorities of the Maritime and Shipping Courts By way of background, the Philippines was a Spanish colony for almost 400 years and a US colony for about 50 years. By reason of the his - torical link to Spain and the US, the Philippines follows the Spanish tradition of being a code- based jurisdiction, but all laws are written, and court proceedings are conducted in the English language. The New Civil Code and the Code of Commerce were both adopted from the Span - ish law. Most of the laws governing transporta - tion and shipping are found in both Codes. The Philippines also follows the rule on judicial prec - edents, and only the decisions of the Supreme Court interpreting provisions of the laws have the force of law. The jurisdiction of Philippine courts over mari - time disputes is determined by law. The Judi - ciary Reorganisation Act of 1980 (BP 129), as amended by Republic Act No 11576, provides that regional trial courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over admiralty and maritime matters for demands or claims that exceed PHP2 mil - lion, which is approximately USD34,000 at the exchange rate at the time of writing. The lower trial courts (metropolitan/municipal/municipal circuit trial courts) have exclusive original juris - diction in admiralty and maritime actions where the demands or claims are below PHP2 million. It was only in 2020 that the Supreme Court prom - ulgated Administrative Matter No 19-08-14-SC, otherwise known as the Rules of Procedure for Admiralty Cases (the “Admiralty Rules”) with the aim of providing “fast, reliable, and efficient means of recourse to Philippine courts” to par - ties in admiralty and maritime related matters.
As of 2020, there are only ten designated Admi - ralty Courts with jurisdiction over maritime claims under the Admiralty Rules. The busy ports of Manila, San Fernando, Subic Bay, Cebu and Davao each have two designated Admiralty Courts. Considering that the Philippines is an archipel - ago of over 7,000 islands, trade and commerce is heavily reliant on sea transport. The shipping cases filed with the Admiralty Courts cover a wide range of both wet and dry shipping claims. 1.2 Port State Control The Philippines accepted the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia- Pacific Region (or the “Tokyo MOU”) in 1994. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the body vested with the authority to conduct vessel inspections, also issued Memorandum Circular 03-20 in relation to Port State Control for the purposes of establishing a uniform implemen - tation of the various international convention standards on foreign-flagged vessels calling at any port of the Republic of the Philippines. Under the Philippine Coast Guard Law of 2009, the powers of the PCG are extensive. Among them are “to remove, destroy or tow to port sunken or floating hazards to navigation, includ - ing illegal fish and vessels, at or close to sea lanes which may cause hazards to the marine environment”, “to investigate and inquire into the causes of all maritime accidents involving death, casualties and damage to properties”, “to enforce laws and promulgate and adminis - ter rules and regulations for the protection of the marine environment and resources from offshore sources [from] pollution within the maritime juris - diction of the Philippines”, and “to develop oil
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