President Rodrigo Duterte has changed the “Benham Rise” to “Philippine Rise.”
He has signed Executive Order (EO) Number 25 for this purpose.
The EO states, “in the exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction, the Philippines has the power to designate its submarine areas with appropriate nomenclature for the purpose of the national mapping system.”
It further says, “the undersea feature known as the Benham Rise, which has an area approximately 24 million hectares in size, is located within the Philippine exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, as well as the outer limits of the continental shelf, in accordance with the recommendations of the [United Nations] Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) issued on August 12, 2012.”
Wikipedia defines “Benham Rise” or “Philippine Rise” as a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge located in the Philippine Sea, about 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela.
Two months ago, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang had said, the Philippines cannot declare Benham Rise as its own territory.
This is despite the 2012 ruling of the United Nations that approved the Philippines’ claim to Benham Rise.
Geng had insisted, the statements made by some personalities in the Philippines are not consistent with facts.