Hear, hear

We agree wholeheartedly with a maritime expert who urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to file “an entitlement to a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the West Philippines Sea.”

That should be filed before a United Nations commission amid China’s aggression in claiming, under its mythical Ten-Dash Line, most parts of the area, according to the director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea Jay Batongbacal.

“It is not ‘a claim for territorial ownership’ but a ‘submission to establish entitlement to a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles’ in the WPS,” Batongbacal said.

Batongbacal said the President can file the submission before the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea’s Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

We understand the same recommendation was made to the past administrations under then presidents Benigno Aquino III (2010-2016) and Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) but no action was taken.

International law experts say coastal countries have exclusive rights to resources within the continental shelf, which legally is defined as the seabed up to roughly 370 km from shore or to the outer edge of the continental margin, whichever is farther, subject to an overall limit of about 650 km.

The significance of the continental shelf is that it may contain valuable minerals and shellfish.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS addresses the issue of jurisdiction over these resources by allocating sovereign rights to the coastal State for exploration and exploitation.

Continental shelves are commonly cut by submarine canyons and are sometimes referred to as continental platform, continental slope, land bridge, offshore rights, submarine canyon, and territorial waters.

Continental resources are areas with important natural resources, particularly fisheries, but also oil and gas, and sand and gravel. During the peak of the last ice age, the world’s continental shelves were mostly exposed coastal plain environments.

We are also aware of the National Security Council’s welcome for the latest OCTA survey which showed majority of adult Filipinos agree with the Marcos administration’s approach in handling the territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.

“We appreciate the support of the Filipino people and the public can be assured the NSC will always advance the national interest and protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity at all times,” National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said in a statement.

Año, who chairs the NSC, said the Philippines shall pursue its national interest with greater resolve in 2024.

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