Like the frontier northwest Palawan area that produced the country’s first commercial oil and natural gas fields, Benham Rise must be mapped, explored and developed sooner than later by the Philippines for the benefit of the population. Exploiting the energy potential of the undersea region, along with its rich marine resources, will bolster the country’s exclusive right to over 200 nautical miles off the Luzon coast.
Benham Rise falls under the country’s exclusive economic zone, as affirmed in 2012 by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. It is, thus, natural for the Philippines to exploit the resources of the area, which is approximately about 250 kilometers in diameter.
The Senate, which is conducting a hearing on the proposed law creating the Benham Rise Development Authority, should act swiftly on its passage to formalize the exploitation of the region. The Philippines’ exclusive right over the undersea plateau is an opportunity to explore the natural resources of the area.
The Philippines in the 1970s started scouring the waters of northwest Palawan for a potential oil field, long before China laid a claim on virtually the whole of the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines first struck oil in the Nido field in the late 70s. Soon after, a string of small oil fields were discovered in the general area before the Shell Group found the rich Malampaya natural gas reserve in the 90s.
Oil and gas exploration in northwest Palawan was unhampered until China drew up the controversial Nine-Dash-Line that demarcated its claims in what it calls the South China Sea. The China map covered a portion of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, including the Recto Bank where an oil exploration work was suspended.
Benham Rise, meanwhile, is a natural breeding ground and habitat for marine species”•making it a prime fishing spot. Filipino fishermen should have the first crack at the marine resources of the area. The government should perhaps draw up an interim Benham Rise economic development plan to give poor Filipino fishermen a bigger catch.
