Professor Jay Batongbacal is currently Executive Associate Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law and Director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs & Law of the Sea. Since 1997 after graduating with a degree of Master of Marine Management from Dalhousie University (Canada) he has undertaken research in diverse fields of marine affairs, such as coastal resource management, shipping, seafaring, maritime boundaries, high seas fishing, marine scientific research, maritime disputes, among others. He finished his Doctorate in the Science of Law while also acting as Legal Advisor to the Technical Team that successfully pursued the Philippine submission for the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Benham Rise Region. Most recently, he assisted the government in securing the designation of the Tubbataha Reef Natural Park as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area by the International Maritime Organisation and participated in the Supreme Court’s Technical Working Group that drafted the country’s first Special Rules of Procedure in Admiralty Cases.