Gov't should consider Benham Rise part of Philippine territory, says expert

MANILA, Philippines — Even if the Philippines only has sovereign rights over Benham Rise, the government should refer to the area as part of national territory, an international maritime law expert said.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said the Philippine government should refer to the 1987 Constitution in defining the country's territorial waters.

"As far as our laws are concerned and as far as the definition of territory in the Constitution, I believe we should be using that as our basic reference the national territory includes all areas that are under our jurisdiction," Batongbacal said in a Senate hearing Monday.

Article I of the 1987 Constitution states that "national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas."

In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the submission of the Philippines to declare Benham or Philippine Rise as part of its continental shelf.

This grants the Philippines sovereign rights over Benham Rise for the purpose of "exploring and exploiting its natural resources" under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

According to Batongbacal, the government should use the Constitution as a principal reference in defining national territory so as to avoid confusion.

"We (should) use that as a principal reference—that it is part of our national territory even though we exercise only exclusive sovereign rights over that area kasi because even in law, when it comes to territory there are several definitions within our domestic law," Batongbacal told the Senate panel.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, stressed that Benham Rise is undisputed and China respects the country's jurisdiction over the region.

"The Philippines exercises indisputable sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Philippine Rise consisting of the (exclusive economic zone) and extended continental shelf," DFA Assistant Secretary Lourdes Yparaguirre said.

In March 2017, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement claiming that the Philippines cannot claim Benham Rise as part of its territory. A few days after releasing this statement, Beijing released a clarification that it respects the Philippines' sovereignty over the undersea region.

“The Chinese side fully respects the Philippines rights and interests over the Benham Rise region. There has never been and will not be any dispute over this region between China and the Philippines," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said statement issued March 17, 2017.

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