PH plans to acquire survey vessels to explore Philippine Rise

The Philippine government is considering to acquire maritime survey vessels which will be use in exploring areas in the Philippine Rise, Malacañang said on Tuesday, March 6. (PNA Photo)

The Philippine government is considering to acquire maritime survey vessels which will be used in exploring areas in the Philippine Rise, Malacañang said on Tuesday, March 6.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet members agreed that it is necessary to purchase maritime research ships as the Chief Executive asserted the country’s sovereign rights over the resource-rich continental shelf.

“The President and the Cabinet also noted that we should invest in maritime survey ships so that we can better assess the resources that we can exploit in the Philippine Rise,” Roque said during Palace news briefing.

Roque said that the government has sufficient budget to buy research vessels as Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III guaranteed the budget during the Cabinet meeting.

The Palace official said that there was initial proposal to use the Malampaya funds but was later dismissed due to possible legal questions.

“There was an initial proposal to buy using Malampaya funds, but it was noted that there may be legal questions… [There’s a] permanent injunction issued by the Supreme Court, that Malampaya funds could only be utilized for energy-related projects,” he said.

In the same meeting, the President reiterated his order to stop all foreign exploration in the Philippine Rise, formerly known as Benham Rise, saying that foreigners can only exercise freedom of navigation in the said region.

“Exploration for natural reassures, conduct of scientific research, laying of submarine cables, building of artificial islands are reserved for Philippine nationals,” Roque stressed.

The spokesman said that Duterte noticed that non-Filipinos conducted “a lot of research” in the plateau, including an “overwhelming number” made by American companies.

“He has said that he will absolutely prohibit all scientific researches in the area now and when he said that it was not directed against China, it’s because as far as we know China has(conducted) only two scientific researches,” he explained.

Malacañang earlier clarified that it is not prohibiting foreigners who seek marine exploration and research in the Philippine Rise, however, they need to get approval from the Office of the National Security Adviser.