RENAMING BENHAM RISE TO PHILIPPINE RISE IS AN EXERCISE OF SOVEREIGNTY - TOLENTINO
Senator Francis Tol N. Tolentino has filed a bill seeking to rename Benham Rise as the Philippine Rise or Talampas ng Pilipinas to underscore the country s assertion of sovereign rights over the 13-million-hectare underwater plateau.
The Senator said renaming the Benham Rise to Philippine Rise or Talampas ng Pilipinas is an exercise of sovereignty and is aimed at protecting national interest.
In his Senate Bill No. 2235, Tolentino said the measure will complement President Duterte s Executive Order No. 25.
Tolentino s measure also aims to name the 22 undersea features found in the area.
PCG, M-NAV Solutions Inc install buoys in PH Rise philippinetimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from philippinetimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Atty. Joey Lina
There is an overwhelming majority of Filipinos who are unwavering in their desire to see the administration assert our country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), despite some confusing statements from the office of the President.
The widespread sentiment of Filipinos against Chinese intrusions in the WPS has remained strong over the years. As shown in many surveys of both Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations, seven to nearly nine out of 10 Filipinos want government to assert the Philippines’ historic victory against China in 2016 at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague.
The Pulse Asia poll on June 2018, for instance, revealed 73 percent of Filipinos want our rights to our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZs) asserted, while a SWS survey, released at the start of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit on November 2018, showed 84 percent “oppose the administration’s inaction in the face of China’s intrusions.”
PH Rise is ours: Duterte says he won t allow intrusion into territory mb.com.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mb.com.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SunStar
Editorial Cartoon by John Gilbert Manantan
+ What should buoy Philippine sovereignty, and what should sink it?
Over two hundred kilometers off the Isabela coast in Luzon towards the Pacific Ocean is the 13-million-hectare Philippines Rise (imagine it bigger than the island of Luzon), erstwhile called Benham Rise before President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 25, which declared it a protected food supply zone where mining and oil explorations are prohibited.
The Philippine claim to this underwater plateau is one reward for decades of joint efforts among government agencies, scholars and international technical experts. It sets the record as the country’s first validated claim under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The rich biodiversity that thrives on this submerged volcanic ridge hosts unexplored marine life and rare ecosystem.