MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is planning to go to the Philippine Rise next week to assert the country’s ownership of the maritime area.
Duterte, who has been accused of selling out the Philippines’ maritime interests in exchange for Chinese aid, said he is ready to go to war if another country claims it.
He stressed that no other country can claim ownership of the Philippine Rise or Benham Rise.
China, however, is not claiming Benham, which is in the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines’ eastern seaboard. No other country is laying claim to the area, although China has gained naming rights to some areas in the Philippine Sea after conducting maritime exploration missions, the latest of which was approved by the Duterte administration.
Beijing’s “nine-dash-line” maritime claim covers nearly the entire South China Sea, where a UN-backed arbitration court has awarded the Philippines sovereign rights over reefs and islets that China refuses to vacate, notably Panganiban or Mischief Reef.
“Next week... I’m going to the Benham Rise and I will make a statement there that nobody but nobody owns this place, including the continental shelf, the underground land mass that extends under the sea,” Duterte told a gathering of Masons in Davao City on Thursday.
“If it extends to San Francisco Bay, San Francisco Bay is the property of the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.
The President maintained that he is willing to declare war to defend the country’s interests in the area.
“When the issue of Benham Rise, Philippine Rise, there were so many ships there doing explorations and when this crucial question was asked of me: ‘What will you do if they also claim it?’ I said I will go to war and I will go to war, believe me,” Duterte stressed.
The Philippine Rise is a 13-million-hectare submerged continental shelf off Aurora province in the Philippines’ western seaboard. The United Nations declared the area as part of the Philippines’ continental shelf in 2012.
The Philippines has sovereign rights over the area, which means the country has the exclusive right to explore and exploit the natural and non-living resources found in it.
Controversy erupted when it was revealed recently that China had given names to five underwater features in the Philippine Rise.
The names, which were approved by the International Hydrographic Organization last year, were Jinghao Seamount, Tianbao Seamount, Haidonquing Seamount, Cuiqiao Hill and Jujiu Seamount.
Philippine officials have refused to recognize the names and downplayed China’s action, saying it was not the same as claiming ownership.
Duterte himself has downplayed the giving of Chinese names to the features, believing it was just meant to mark the areas that have been explored.
He defended his friendship with China, justifying his decision to seek closer ties with Beijing despite the maritime dispute over parts of the South China Sea.
Duterte said China could provide help in the event that violence erupts in Mindanao.
“If there is trouble in Mindanao, if there’s going to be a bloodbath, the nearest I could call, which I’m sure would respond, would be China. Maybe America but because their Congress is so powerful, that it can paralyze actually the presidency of America unlike in countries where there is only one leader to reckon with,” the President said.
The US was the first to send missiles and other weaponry to the Armed Forces of the Philippines when Maute terrorists laid siege to Marawi last year. Australia, with which the Philippines has a defense agreement, also sent drones. China later donated rifles, which the AFP turned over to the police. The AFP kept AK-47s donated by Russia.
Duterte said that while the Philippines is a friend of the United States, the two countries’ governments need to seek permission of their respective congresses before declaring war.
He also claimed the US is already too busy dealing with its own internal problems.
“We have gone through the high and doldrums point of our relationship. It’s not because I don’t trust America but America today is beset with so many problems. And the matter of arms race, apparently, Russia and China have gone into a parity or if not, a little bit higher,” he said.
“If there’s going to be a war, the United States (would) be busy defending itself from the missiles coming from Russia and China but then again, if there is a revolution that is rampaging and it is ISIS (Islamic State), it would hijack the peace talks from the traditional Moro people, then it would be China because I have asked (for it).”
Duterte also responded to criticisms that he is trying to appear weak before China, saying he could not afford to sacrifice the lives of soldiers. He said he expressed desire to extract oil from the West Philippine Sea during his first bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016.
“I said no, I want to respect our friendship but what about the oil there? We need money. My country is poor. You are all lucky you have oil fields... We don’t have oil... He (Xi) said ‘I’m afraid if you do it, there will be trouble’,” Duterte said.
“What do you think the Chinese would have meant when he said there will be trouble? Am I going to send my Marines? It will be a massacre. It will be a war. I can never, never win and sacrifice the lives of Filipinos,” he added.
Duterte blamed the US and other western countries for China’s military buildup in the South China Sea, saying they did not do anything to stop it.