By Christina Mendez
MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of the Executive Secretary to determine how the Philippines can further assert its rights over Benham Rise by renaming it Philippine Rise.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said yesterday the DFA and the Office of the Executive Secretary have been tasked to look into the possibility of changing the name of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise to emphasize Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the area.
“A motion has been made subject to the conduct of the requisite legal and logistical study to effect the change,” Abella said.
The other day, Duterte revealed his Cabinet briefed him on the Philippines’ jurisdiction over a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcano ridge located beneath the Philippine Sea approximately 250 kms (160 miles) east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela.
After conflicting statements from the President and his subalterns on whether there was clearance for Chinese ships to navigate the area, Duterte’s recent statements indicate that he now has clearer knowledge about the area.
“That’s how it is, so you will understand – this is the land, the Philippines. It’s not like when you get to the territory, you’ll fall immediately because it’s a mountainous area. The continental shelf is the one connected to our land, under the sea,” he said in Filipino during an event last Friday at Malacañang marking the end of Women’s Month.
Duetrte explained to the crowd that Benham Rise is a submerged area, which makes it part of the Philippines’ continental shelf.
Earlier, a supplemental impeachment complaint was filed by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano against Duterte for his failure to assert the country’s exclusive sovereignty and maritime rights and territorial claims over Benham Rise, aside from Panatag Shoal.
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