Manila: President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order changing the name of Benham Rise, an ecologically vital undersea feature east, ‘Philippine Rise’.
The renaming of the Benham Rise, which was made public on Monday, aims to make it more indicative of the Philippines’ claim to the territory.
The move also follows reports that China has expressed interest in the submerged territory by sending specialised ships to survey and map the area.
The Executive Order 25, which was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, asserted that the territory belongs to the Philippines.
“The undersea feature, which is known as the Benham Rise is the subject of sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines pursuant to the relevant provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, national legislation, the UNCLOS [United Nations Laws of the Sea] and applicable international law,” it said.
The order also said that in the exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction “the Philippines has the power to designate its submarine [undersea] areas with appropriate nomenclature for purposes of its national mapping system.”
The Philippine Rise is about 200-nautical miles from the shores of Quezon Province in the northeastern part of the country. It is a continental shelf, which is considered as a rich fishing ground by Filipinos for centuries.
The undersea territory had been described in the President’s order as a 24 million hectare area “located with the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)” designated by the UNCLOS, and continental shelf.
