PHL to China: We have indisputable right over Benham Rise

The Philippine government stressed Tuesday that the country has indisputable and sovereign right over Benham Rise - a sprawling and potentially resource-rich undersea landmass off the country's northeast coast which no other country is claiming.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said Benham Rise, which was recognized by the United Nations as part of the Philippines' continental shelf in 2012, is within country's Exclusive Economic Zone and extended continental shelf under a UN maritime convention.

“It is indisputable because no other country has an overlapping claim there and this was awarded to us by the UN Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf,” Jose told reporters in an interview.

“So as a country that exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction, we are the only one that has a sole and exclusive right to explore and exploit the national resources in Benham Rise,” he added. “It is our responsibility to protect it.”

Chinese survey vessels were reportedly spotted off Benham Rise, which has alarmed Philippine defense officials, saying the Chinese crisscrossed the area at a slow speed and sometimes stopped at some points apparently to undertake an activity in what can be considered as an incursion of the country's waters.

The Philippines sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Embassy, seeking clarification on the presence of their vessels in Benham Rise but Beijing has not responded.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, however, has acknowledged Chinese ships have passed through Benham Rise waters, but maintained it was in exercise of China’s “freedom of navigation” and “right to innocent passage.”

Benham, also known as the Benham Plateau, is a 13 million-hectare undersea region east of Luzon and is 35 meters underwater at its shallowest point off the provinces of Aurora and Isabela.

Under the UNCLOS, a coastal state’s exclusive economic zone extends 370 kilometers or 200 nautical miles from its continental shelf, while its extended continental shelf extends for another 278 km or 150 nautical miles.

With the UN recognition of the Philippine claim, the country’s territory has increased to 43 million hectares from 30 million hectares.

As a country that adheres to rule of law, Jose said the Philippines recognizes other countries’ right freedom of navigation and right of innocent passage.

“We recognize those principles,” Jose said as he reminded China that no country can claim an entire sea “in the same manner that China can not claim the entire South China Sea because it is not their territory.”

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, however, said the Chinese survey ships stopped at some points and were cruising at a slow speed to be just passing innocently in the vast Benham Rise area for several months last year.

While China invoked its right of passage under UNCLOS in waters facing the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, it has invoked historical grounds that clash with the more modern UNCLOS principles in claiming virtually the entire South China Sea west of the Philippines.

But the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have overlapping claims on the region. — RSJ, GMA News