Govt letting China survey Benham Rise ‘capitulation’

THE Duterte administration was accused on Tuesday by a lawmaker of accommodating the caprices of China in a reprise of what then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did. “It can really be seen that [the government has] indeed capitulated. We are giving in to the whims of China,” Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano said on Tuesday.

Alejano cited the Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA) granting Beijing’s request to survey Benham Rise as reminiscent of the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) deal struck by the former leader with China during her presidency.

“With the development, it is like we are allowing the Chinese to survey our territories just like what [ Arroyo] did during her term, where just like the JMSU, in exchange for the funds to be given by China [is the approval of [other requests], like the controversial NBN-ZTE deal,” he said in a news conference at the House of Representatives.

The NBN, or the National Broadband Network, was a multimillion-peso contract signed by the Arroyo administration with China’s ZTE Corp. Arroyo called off the deal, citing overpricing. “There [might be an exchange] deal [over Benham Rise]. [China might have said], ‘If you allow us [to survey Benham Rise], we will give you [funds] for your projects.’ [We should be wary of such deal] because this survey has military, security and economic aspects],” Alejano said. According to the congressman, the decision to approve the request showed that the country is just sitting and watching what China is doing in Philippine waters. The Benham Rise is a 13 million- hectare undersea plateau approximately 160 nautical miles east of Luzon, off the provinces of Isabela and Aurora. The plateau is located in the Central Basin Fault under the South China Sea. Alejano brought to the table a dispute between Manila and Beijing over territorial claims in the South Chiona Sea (West Philippine Sea).

“China claims 80 percent of [ our] exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea and [ it continues] to do that even now. If we cannot assert our rights to the West Philippine Sea and the Scarborough Shoal [there], then what is the assurance that we can assume the same rights to Benham Rise?” he said.

Earlier, Alejano bared that the DFA approved the request of the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for - ern Luzon and Eastern Mindanao.

The University of the Philippines- Marine Science Institute will join the Chinese team in the research, which will be conducted on January 24 to February 25, according to the congressman.

Alejano said a similar request by Tara Expeditions Foundation, - zation, was declined by the DFA.

of China to conduct studies in the same area were declined because Beijing did not want Philippine scientists on board.

“As a requirement, the joint project will be subject to applicable Philippine laws and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. [But China] is not following the ruling of the arbitral tribunal, [so] what can we survey?” Alejano said.

The United Nations tribunal has ruled that China’s nine-dash contention over the South China Sea was invalid.

In a statement, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao said once the Chinese set sail for the survey of Benham Rise, it is already “essentially [a] giving away [of Philippine] territory.”

“This government is selling off national patrimony and threatening to allow destruction of the marine environment, essentially surrendering our rights to a foreign power, [which] actually has encroached into our territory in the West Philippine Sea,” Casilao noted.

Benham Rise should be “practically used building a national industry in the country and should

DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano also earlier said there is nothing to worry about since the same rules apply to all countries.