PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will grace a series of commemorative activities, including a send-off ceremony on Tuesday that will formally start the marine science research or MSR to be performed by the country’s premier scientists in Philippine Rise.
Meanwhile, Efren Carandang, deputy administrator of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority or NAMRIA, described the successful validation of the country’s claim to Philippine Rise to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf as “a perpetual legacy.”
“[Philippine Rise’s recognition by the UNCLCS] will enrich the national patrimony, aside from demonstrating to the international community of nations the country’s strong determination, capability and political will to assert its rights under international law,” Carandang said.
The MSR is the first nationally-coordinated research to be conducted in the undersea region off the provinces of Isabela and Aurora since Duterte signed Executive Order 25 renaming Benham Rise to Philippine Rise on May 16, 2017.
It is part of the Coordinated National MSR Initiatives and Related Activities or CONMIRA that the national government agencies and research institutions are conducting in the Philippine waters from April to November this year.
CONMIRA comprises the Bureau of Food and Aquatic Resources, Marine and Geosciences Bureau and Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Mapping and Resource and Information Authority, Philippine Navy and University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute.
Duterte had earlier ordered to stop all the marine explorations by foreign entities in Philippine Rise and to give priority to Filipino scientists.
Last week, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced that around 50 Filipino scientists will conduct the MSR.
In a March forum last year, Cesar Villanoy of the UP-MSI said there was a need for more scientific exploration to determine the economic potential of Philippine Rise.
Villanoy said the government should also develop a sustainable management framework for the development and protection of the area believed to be rich in marine resources, natural gas, oil and minerals.
He suggested a practical cooperation, possibly with other countries, for technological capability since research expeditions in Philippine Rise require the use of modern equipment such as remotely-operated vehicles and Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems.
Villanoy said the MSR was a step towards creating a more comprehensive understanding of the area.
“This is just the beginning to know what is at the rise and understanding processes,” Villanoy said.
Mario Aurelio, director of the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences, said the Filipinos had the expertise to conduct MSR in Philippine Rise.
Aurelio, however, said the government should pursue a plan to establish a comprehensive National Marine Research Agenda that would fully equip local scientists by acquiring research vessels and other equipment, particularly ROVs and BRUVS.
He said Duterte could issue an Executive Order for the establishment of NMRA that would incorporate all the sectors from solid earth to atmospheric and meteorological research.
For the past five years, the DENR has been conducting studies that indicated large deposits of methane in solid form.
On the other hand, marine scientists from BFAR, UP and Oceania have documented a dazzling array of soft and hard corals, at least 200 fish species, algae and sponges as some of the biological diversity in the Philippine Rise.
The UP-MSI conducted the first oceanography survey in July 2012 while BFAR started a series of annual expeditions in 2013.
The results of the surveys boosted the Philippines’ submission to an extended continental shelf in 2009.
Four years later, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf awarded and validated the country’s claim, thus extending the country’s continental shelf by 118 nautical miles beyond the 200-NM legal continental shelf limits.
