Mixed reaction as Duterte claims isle

Proclamation means country has formal claim to 50,000ha of the Philippine Rise

The move by President Rodrigo Duterte to formalise the Philippines’ claim on the erstwhile “Benham Rise”, off the country’s eastern coast, has drawn mixed reaction from legislators.

Representative Gary Alejano of the Magdalo Partylist, a vocal critic of the Philippine leader, said he supported the president’s move to formally declare the undersea feature as a Marine Resource Reserve and officially change the name of the Benham Rise to Philippine Rise.

The name change was contained in Executive Order No. 25 issued by Duterte on Tuesday. Alejano, in an interview with the Bombo Radyo station, said he supported Duterte’s move, since it was in line with the Magdalo Partylists’ nationalist stance.

“It had been the advocacy of the party to protect the natural resources and maritime zones of the country,” he said.

It was one of the rare occasions that the party, made up of former military officers who took part in failed power grab attempts, agreed with the Philippine leader.

The presidential proclamation means that the Philippines has a formal claim to 50,000 hectares of the Philippine Rise.

But not all heaped praises on Duterte for his gesture.

Concern ‘on other side’

Opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan said the Philippine Rise was clearly a part of the Philippine territory.

The concern, he said, was on the Western seaboard of the country where China has been unopposed in taking territory from the Philippines.

“On the other side of the Philippines, in our exclusive economic zone, in the territory where China has deployed anti-air and anti-ship missiles is where foreign militarisation on Philippine land and waters is happening,” he said.