There should be no problem for the Philippines over Benham Rise to the east of Luzon. There we are the sole claimant and the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ruled in 2012 that Benham Rise is part of the Extended Continental Shelf of the Philippines. It is not Philippine territory, we have no ”sovereignty” over it, but we have “sovereign rights” – exclusive rights to explore and exploit the oil, gas, and other mineral resources in that undersea plateau as big as the island of Luzon.
It is in the South China Sea (SCS), to the west of Luzon, where we have a problem. There we won a ruling by the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2015 that rejected China’s claim to most of the SCS as delineated by a nine-dash line on a map China issued in 1957, and declared that the SCS are international waters where there is freedom oif navigation. The court also ruled that Scarborough Shoal, which lies only 150 miles from the Zambales coast, is a traditional fishing area for fishermen of many nations, including the Philippines and China, and must remain open to them. Scarborough is within the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Against this ruling is China’s claim to sovereignty over most of the SCS, including Scarborough. From the start, China refused to recognize the Arbitration Court proceedings, standing firmly on its claim to sovereignty. Last Friday, it announced plans to build stations on Scarborough and five other islands in the South China Sea, as among its top priorities for 2017.
President Duterte has declined to press the Philippine claim upheld by the Arbitral Court, opting instead for developing closer relations with China in the hope and expectation of economic benefits such as investments and increased importations of Philippine products. How will the Philippines now respond to China’s announcement that it will now build a station on Scarborough?
It is only to the east of Luzon where we have no rival claimant. Chinese ships spent a number of months exploring the area as shown by satellite photos, according to Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana, but China claimed freedom of navigation and acknowledged the Philippines’ rights to the area as affirmed by the UN. West of Luzon, we have a big problem. To the east, we should be thankful that have Benham Rise to ourselves, to develop as a new source of natural resources for Philippine industry and progress.
Congress would do well to enact Sen. Sonny Angara’s bill for a Benham Rise Development Authority to start drawing up plans fo this potentially rich area.