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Philippine has sovereign rights but not sovereignty over Benham Rise
The Philippine has sovereign rights over Benham Rise but the country does not have sovereignty over it, this is the clarification made by staunch West Philippine Sea defender Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as shared by former Interior Secretary Rafael Alunan III.
“Benham rise is not part of Philippine national territory because we do not have sovereignty over Benham Rise. However, we have sovereign rights (less than sovereignty) over Benham Rise because we have exclusive right to explore and exploit the oil, gas and other mineral resources in Benham Rise which has been confirmed by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) as part of the Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) of the Philippines,” Carpio said in Alunan’s post.
Normally, continental shelf is within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone but in the case of Philippines, the UNCLCS granted Benham Rise which is beyond 200 nautical miles to be part of Philippines’ continental shelf in accordance with Article 76, paragraph 8 of the UNCLOS.
According to UNCLOS, “the continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea.”
Moreover, Article 77 Paragraph 1 of UNCLOS says “the coastal State exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources.”
Further, Article 78 Paragraph 2 says “the exercise of the rights of the coastal State over the continental shelf must not infringe or result in any unjustifiable interference with navigation and other rights and freedoms of other States as provided for in this Convention.”
Jusctice Carpio added that “other states, like China, have the right to conduct in Benham rise (1) fishery research because the fish in the ECS belongs to mankind; (2) surveys on water salinity and water currents because the water column in the ECS belongs to mankind; and (3) depth soundings for navigational purposes because there is freedom of navigation in the ECS.”
He noted that if the Chinese vessels were looking for submarine passages and parking spaces, that would be part of freedom of navigation and the Philippines has no reason to complain. Adding that if the Chinese vessels were conducting seismic surveys to look for oil, gas and minerals, then they could not do that because UNLCOS has reserved the oil, gas and minerals in the ECS to the Philippines.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Charles Jose said “strengthening our capability is our way to assert and protect our sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our maritime entitlements.”
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