President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday told the military to assert Philippine ownership of a large ocean region off the country's northeastern coast where Chinese survey ships were spotted last year, in a discovery that alarmed Philippine defense officials.
Duterte said he ordered the military to assert ownership of Benham Rise in a friendly way, repeating that his country has no option but to be diplomatic because "I cannot match the might of China."
"My order to my military, you go there and tell them straight that this is ours, but I say it in friendship," Duterte said.
(READ: Interesting Facts About Benham Rise)
The Philippines and China have a separate long-running dispute in the West Philippine Sea, but tensions have eased considerably since Duterte took office in June and began reaching out to china. He has placed the territorial feud on halt while seeking Chinese trade and economic aid.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said last week that the Philippine military spotted Chinese survey ships crisscrossing the Benham Rise waters suspiciously from July to December last year. He said the government is considering increase in patrols and the building of territorial markers in the offshore region.
The Department of Foreign affairs said it asked China to clarify what the survey ships were doing in Benham Rise, through its embassy on Friday.
In 2012, the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf declared Benham Rise to be part of the Philippine continental shelf, where the country has exclusive rights to fish and exploit resources, including undersea deposits of oil and gas, Philippine officials said.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said its ships have a right to pass through the area under international law.
Source: The Philippine Star
Images: ABS-CBN | Manila Live Wire
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