By Manny Piñol
President Rody Duterte last night ordered the cessation of all marine explorations and studies by foreign scientists and directed the Philippine Navy to “chase out” any vessel fishing or conducting researches in the 13-million hectare continental shelf east of Luzon formerly called the Benham Rise.
“Let me be very clear about this: the Philippine Rise is ours and any insinuation that it is open to everybody should end with this declaration,” Pres. Duterte said at the start of the Cabinet Meeting in Malacañang.
He directed the Department of National Defense to deploy Navy vessels and the Philippine Air Force to conduct fly overs in the area to check on the presence of foreign vessels.
The Department of Agriculture which issues the Gratuitous Permits for Foreign Marine Explorations through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to dispatch its two new Multi-Mission Off-shore Vessels BRP Lapulapu and BRP Francisco Dagohoy to be dispatched to the area to monitor the presence of foreign groups.
The President issues the categorical position of the Philippine government following a statement issued by a low-level diplomat of another country who insinuated that the Philippine Rise, formerly known as the Benham Rise, does not belong to any particular country.
The Philippine Rise is a 25-million hectare continental shelf which extends from the eastern shores of the island of Luzon towards the Pacific Ocean.
The United Nations has declared 13-million hectares as part of the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines and another 12-million hectares as part of the extended continental shelf.
A controversy surfaced lately following the disclosure that Chinese Marine scientists have been allowed to conduct exploration and studies in the area.
Malacañang through Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque earlier said that foreign explorations and studies would be allowed in the area provided Filipino scientists would be part of the research groups.
That position, however, drastically changed following the statement issued by a foreign low-level diplomat suggesting that the Philippines does not own the whole of the Rise.
“Henceforth, only Filipino scientists will be allowed to conduct researches and exploration in the Philippine Rise,” President Duterte declared.
After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (AUV) will also be flown from military bases east of Luzon to monitor the expanse of the Philippine Rise.
(A smiling and happy President Duterte presided the Cabinet Meeting yesterday in a photo taken by Presidential photographers. Other photos were taken during the Philippine Rise Expedition in May last year which I headed and research group Oceana while the images of the location of the Philippine Rise were downloaded from public websites.)
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