PH to bolster claim on disputed territories by asking UN to extend 200-mile EEZ

From InterAksyon (FEb 18): PH to bolster claim on disputed territories by asking UN to extend 200-mile EEZ

The Philippines plans to stake its claim before the United Nations on an area further outward from its western continental shelf to bolster sovereignty over territories in the West Philippine Sea.

Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Ramon V. Oca said government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are preparing "the second part" of the country's claim over its continental shelf.

"If that is approved at the UNCLOS, that means we have the exclusive right to explore and exploit the resources within the continental shelf," Oca said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas.

Under the UNCLOS, a coastal state's continental shelf extends 200 miles from its baselines. Claims beyond this limit are filed before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) for resolution.

Last year, the UNCLCS approved the country's claim over its eastern continental shelf, which covers the Benham Rise, an undersea landmass spanning a 13 million hectare area in the offshore northeastern tip of Luzon.

The western flank of the Philippines' extended continental shelf covers parts of the West Philippine Sea.

Oca said the DOE has acquired seismic data from foreign oil and gas companies which had previously conducted exploration work in the area that "will form part of our basis."

However, the country's claims are still subject to those of its neighbors "because we might have overlapping claims [and] this has to be resolved by peaceful means," Oca said.

Besides China, the Philippines' extended western continental shelf may also overlap with territories being claimed by Vietnam and Malaysia.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/55308/ph-to-bolster-claim-on-disputed-territories-by-asking-un-to-extend-200-mile-eez