A MARITIME law expert on Wednesday took exception to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque remark that “only China qualifies” to explore the resource-rich Benham Rise, listing down “modest” research expeditions Filipinos have undertaken in the area.
Roque’s claim is “completely wrong, based on ignorance, [and a] serious disservice” to Filipinos, scientists or not, said Jay L. Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.
It is also an “over-exaggeration of China’s potential role in the Philippine ocean sciences,” he said in a public Facebook post, later pointing out that while China is a “formidable” force in contemporary ocean sciences, “it is by no means the only one.”
In a related development, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the marine science research conducted by China was advantageous to the Philippines, stressing this had the least number of approval compared to other countries’ request including the United States, Germany, Japan, among others.
“There is so much talk about why we allowed the Chinese…So whether it’s protecting the environment or any sovereignty rights, meaning economic rights, in Benham Rise, Philippine Rise, it’s more advantageous to us that more are doing research,” Cayetano said in an ambush interview.
He said that the Americans had requested for 13 scientific research missions and approved 13; the Japanese have requested nine and aproved all; the Koreans had four and approved four; while the Chinese had applied for 18 but the Philippines was able to approve only two.
Cayetano said Germany had requested two but both were denied.
The government has been receiving criticism for allowing China to explore the underwater plateau off the coast of Aurora province.
Earlier this week, Roque said the Philippine government could not conduct research in Benham Rise without the help of China.
Data from the DFA show the US has been conducting research in Benham Rise since 2005 while China has been requesting for an MSR in the region since 2004.
Benham Rise lies in the eastern part of the Philippines on the Pacific Ocean, where there is no island or country nearby.
The 13-million-hectare Benham Rise, situated about 250 kilometers east of Dinapigue, Isabela, has untapped resources and is said to be wider than Luzon, Samar and Leyte combined.
In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the country’s undisputed territorial claim over Benham Rise.
Also in June 2012, China also eyed to bid out service contracts for the joint exploration with foreign oil companies in nine oil gas blocks that overlap a territory in the West Philippine Sea also being explored by Vietnam or 160,000 square kilometers of water on offer.
However the offer was rejected as the joint development plan of Philippine territory was unconstitutional.
“For (the) government to say that Filipinos need China to explore Benham Rise as if there is no else that can do it is both a brazen falsehood and a disservice to the hard work and dedication, the talents and capacities of the Filipino scientific community,” Batongbacal wrote.
He was responding to a statement made by Roque that “no one can do it [explore Benham Rise] because, apparently, it’s capital intensive.”
Batongbacal supported his claim by listing down several explorations, further saying the country’s scientists could still tap new technologies for marine research endeavors.
For one, he said the Department of Environment and National Resources’ National Mapping and Resource Information sent a Philippine and Filipino-manned vessel from 2004 to 2008, and again in 2010, to conduct multiple surveys that produced a “highly-detailed 3D digital bathymetric model” of the Benham Rise region that adhered to international standards.