"In the face of many challenges, we again are called to fight for the control of our own land and our own seas, and the call is on to everybody. Are you joining us? Kaya ba natin ito? (Can we do this?)" Amid the continuing territory row in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), National Security Adviser He
Senator Francis Tolentino is pushing to rename the Benham Rise as the Philippine Rise or “Talampas ng Pilipinas” to assert the country's sovereign rights over the resource-rich undersea plateau.
Senator Francis Tolentino (Senate of the Philippines) In the Senate Bill No. 2235 he filed Monday, Ma
Tolentino files bill formalizing Duterte’s renaming of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise By HANA BORDEY, GMA News
Published May 27, 2021 1:14pm Senator Francis Tolentino has filed a bill seeking to formalize the renaming of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise or Talampas ng Pilipinas. In a statement, Tolentino said this will underscore the Philippines’ assertion of sovereign rights over the 13-million hectare undersea plateau off Aurora province. The said area is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Senate Bill 2235 will likewise “complement” President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 25 which changed the name of the undersea region. “This bill seeks to complement Executive Order No. 25, and to solidify the sovereign will of the people by renaming, through legislative fiat, the Benham Rise as Philippine Rise or Talampas ng Pilipinas,” he said in his explanatory note.
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.
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.”