PCG sends ship to Benham after China vessels show up

THE PHILIPPINE Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday deployed a patrol vessel for a two-week mission to Benham Rise, days after the country detected the presence of Chinese research vessels there.

The 84-meter BRP Gabriela Silang was deployed to patrol the northernmost province of Batanes and Benham Rise, it said in a statement.

The mission seeks to “intensify Coast Guard presence in Northern Luzon and monitor local fishermen,” it said. “We will also check the reported Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise.”

PCG said air assets were on standby for possible augmentation “specifically in performing aerial surveillance.”

A US-based think tank last week said two Chinese research vessels were loitering around Benham Rise, an extinct volcanic ridge in the Philippine Sea about 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela.

The research vessels left Longxue Island in Guangzhou on Feb. 26 and were “loitering east of Luzon in the northeast corner” of the Philippine Rise, Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation fellow Raymond M. Powell said on Mar. 1.

The Philippine Navy on Sunday confirmed the report and said the vessels had left the area.

The United Nations in 2012 declared Benham Rise, which is on the eastern side of the Philippines, as part of the country’s continental shelf. Manila renamed it Philippine Rise in 2017.

The Chinese research vessels entered the area without the Philippine government’s permission, National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya told a news briefing on Monday.

“The Philippines is the only country that has rights over that area,” he said. “They do not have the rights to do research there or do any exploration without the expressed consent of the Philippine government.”

While the vessels had the right to innocent passage, they did not have the right to loiter in and explore the area, Mr. Malaya said.

He said the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard have been ordered to investigate whether the Chinese research vessels were conducting studies or simply passing by.

Meanwhile, Speaker and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the government would not compromise its territorial integrity.

“The Philippines will not compromise its territorial integrity or allow any encroachment upon its sovereign rights,” he said in a statement. “The Philippine Rise is unquestionably within our exclusive economic zone, and we will assert our authority to safeguard our maritime domain.”

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to file a diplomatic protest over the presence of Chinese vessels in the area.

“The intrusion of Chinese survey ships into the Philippine Rise east of our country, which is inside our exclusive economic zone, is concerning,” he said in a separate statement. “The government should lodge a protest with Beijing every time they trespass on our territory, whether in Benham Rise or the West Philippine Sea.”

The Chinese research vessels were identified as Haiyang Dizhi Shihao and Haiyang Dizhi Liuhao.

Chinese survey ships were spotted in the region in 2017, and ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte suggested that the plateau be renamed to emphasize Philippine sovereignty over the area. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio