China’s naming of Benham Rise features ‘sign of neglect’ — expert

MANILA— Allowing China to name some features in Benham or Philippine Rise was clearly a sign of neglect on the part of the Philippine government, an international maritime law expert said.

Government technical agencies were aware that China had submitted name applications for the features in the undersea region off the coast of Aurora province but the government did not protest it, according to Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.

The problem here is that we did not make an issue out of it," Batongbacal told ANC's Headstart-yesterday morning. Naming the features in the Benham Rise, which is part of the Philippines' extended continental shelf, gives China the recognition that they discovered these features.

This also takes away the prestige and honor from the Philippines as the country actually uncovered these features upon making its claim in the Benham Rise region.

In 2012, the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the submission of the Philippines to include Benham Rise as part of its extended continental shelf.

"The NAMRIA, our mapping agency which is part of DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), has actually been monitoring this ever since," Batongbacal said.

Batongbacal added that the Philippine should be more active in participating in the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the international organization in charge of naming the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters.

Despite recent uproar following reports of China's naming of Benham Rise features, it might be too late for the Philippines to protest this.

"It’s only now that we’re objecting so my fear, of course, is that we might be taken as out of order, that the organization might say that it’s too late because it is supposedly a scientific process," Batongbacal said.

"This is really a clear sign of neglect even something as simple as naming shows that we are not even keeping up with the simple things, the ones that don’t require that much in terms of resources and expenses," he added.

The Philippine government appears not to be paying enough attention to the country's maritime jurisdictions both in the West Philippine Sea and in the Pacific Ocean, Batongbacal said.

The Philippines may still name the features in Benham Rise, like what the country did in the West Philippine Sea and Philippine Rise, but it will only bind the country.

"Other countries are not bound really to recognize those names that we give to them. As far as the international community is concerned, they go by the names assigned by the relevant international organization which in this case is the IHO," Batongbacal said.