(Eagle News) — Malacañang said it was concerned with the reported presence of Chinese survey ships at Benham Rise in the Pacific and Reed Bank in the South China Sea.
“We are concerned about the presence of a Chinese ship in Benham Rise, which has been recognized by the United Nations as part of the Philippines,” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement..
The Department of National Defense has already notified the Department of Foreign Affairs on this development, Abella said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the ships were seen last year near Benham Rise — a Philippine territory 250 kilometres (155 miles) off the east coast of the main island of Luzon — as well as Reed Bank in the South China Sea, which is claimed by both Manila and Beijing.
“I have ordered the navy that if they see this service ship this year, to start to accost them and drive them away” from Benham Rise, Lorenzana said.
“The very concerning thing is they have several service ships plying this area, staying in one area sometimes for a month as if doing nothing. But we believe they are actually surveying the seabed,” he told journalists.
According to Lorenzana, the Chinese vessels were “looking for a place to put submarines” in the area.
In 2012, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the country’s undisputed territorial claim over Benham Rise.
The 13 million-hectare Benham Rise, is situated about 250 kilometers east of Dinapigue, Isabela. It has untapped natural resources and is allegedly wider than Luzon, Samar and Leyte combined.