The Philippine government submitted information to
the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the extent of its
undersea shelf in the South China Sea, off western Palawan province, after more
than a decade and a half of scientific research, the department said. China did not immediately comment but it
will likely contest the Philippine move.
The undersea region where the Philippines seeks to
formally establish its sovereign rights under the UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea, or UNCLOS, covers the Spratlys,
a chain of islands, islets, reefs and atolls that has been fiercely
contested over the years by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei
and Taiwan. Indonesia has also confronted Chinese coast guard and fishing
fleets in the gas-rich Natuna sea in the fringes of the South China Sea.
“Incidents in the waters tend to overshadow the
importance of what lies beneath,” Philippine Foreign Assistant Secretary
Marshall Louis Alferez said.
‘“The seabed and the subsoil extending from our archipelago up to the maximum extent allowed by UNCLOS hold significant potential resources that will benefit our nation and our people for generations to come.” “Today, we secure our future by making a manifestation of our exclusive right to explore and exploit natural resources in our extended continental shelf entitlement,” Alferez said.
Under the 1982 UN convention, a coastal state could
have exclusive rights to exploit resources in its continental shelf, a vast
stretch of seabed that can extend up to 350 nautical miles (648 kilometres),
including the right to authorise and regulate any kind of drilling.
The Philippines’ undersea continental shelf could
potentially overlap with those of other coastal states in the South China Sea,
including that of Vietnam. Philippine
officials expressed readiness to hold talks to resolve such issues based on
UNCLOS. Philippine permanent representative to the UN Antonio Lagdameo said
the move “can reinvigorate efforts of states to demonstrate their readiness to
pursue UNCLOS processes in the determination of maritime entitlements and
promote a rules-based international order.”
Hostilities and tensions in the
disputed waters have alarmingly escalated particularly between China and the
Philippines over two disputed shoals since last year. Chinese coast guard ships and
suspected militia vessels have used powerful water cannons and dangerous
blocking maneuvers against Philippine coast guard patrol ships and navy boats
that have injured Filipino navy personnel, damaged their supply boats and
strained diplomatic relations between the two countries.
After a tense standoff between Philippine and
Chinese ships near a shoal in 2012, the Philippines brought its disputes with
China the following year to international arbitration. The arbitration panel invalidated China’s claim to virtually the
entire South China Sea in a 2016 ruling but Beijing refused to participate
in the arbitration, rejected the decision and continues to defy it.