1. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and water embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction by historic right or legal title, 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 breath and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

This provision is similar to the 1972 Constitution.  The phrase “by historic right or legal title” was dropped in the 1987 Constitution.  It is again included here to fortify and protect the claim of the Bangsa Moro State on Sabah.

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