As China does its own brand of sable ratting in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the country’s defense establishment must also be on the alert on guarding the Philippine Rise that has the potential to give the country an economic bonanza.

This, as at least two Chinese research vessels were spotted in Philippine Rise (formerly known as Benham Rise) in March this year, sparking worries that China is also interested in making a foray into the area that has vast marine resources and is believed to have hydrocarbon deposits.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy (PN) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said at that time that the two Chinese vessels were spotted in March, they did not commit violations while in Philippine waters and just passed through the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and Benham Rise.

However, as to why the Chinese research vessels were in the area should raise a lot of questions, as the Philippine Rise is very far away from the mainland of China. And fortunately, it was not included in China’s dubious “nine-dash line” encompassing much of the South China Sea and the WPS.

To recall, it was in 2012 that the United Nations, through recommendations of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, approved the claim that the Philippine Rise is within the country’s EEZ.

According to research by Current PH, the Phiiippine rise is a 24 million-hectare undersea plateau off the coast of Aurora province that is also touted to have vast natural gas deposits and mineral reserves. It is estimated to have a landmass much larger than Luzon and is a natural breeding ground and habitat for various marine species.

In short, the Philippine Rise represents a potential economic bonanza for the country as it transitions to utilizing cleaner energy resources like natural gas. Also, there is a need to increase the country’s source of protein that the area can provide through its marine resources.

So far, there has been no active extraction of the natural and marine resources at the Philippine Rise, which can give the government time to plan sustainably the management of resources of the area.

But Chinese vessels entering the Philippine Rise to exploit its marine resources might prove tragic, as a study conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that at least 21,000 acres of coral reefs in the WPS were destroyed by activities of vessels from China, according to an expert from the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI).

UP-MSI assistant professor Mike Atrigeneo said in a radio interview that many fish species that Filipinos depend upon for their protein needs can go extinct without corals.

“For lapu-lapu, maya-maya and other fish associated with live stones, these are the corals, they are facing extinction as they have no habitat. Many fish eat directly from the corals. If there are no longer corals, that’s the impact on fisheries, we have lower catch. That’s the economic implication,” he added.

Based on latest statistics, around 80 percent of China’s fish harvest comes from aquaculture that are done mostly inland.

Hu Bo, director of Peking University’s Center for Marine Strategy, also cited that marine resources in the South China Sea have been depleted.

“To a great extent, China is no longer reliant on fishery resources in the South China Sea,” he added.

While Bo sees technology-driven solutions like fish ranching as the answer to increase fish production for China, nobody knows what are in the minds of the officials of China’s ruling communist party on finding new fishing grounds amid the declining fish catch in the South China Sea.

And for sure, the Philippine Rise has gotten their attention.
(Photo from Philippine Coast Guard)