DENR chief: UN may grant PHL add'l 13M-hectare territory in 2012

The United Nations (UN) may grant an additional 13-million-hectare territory to the Philippines in 2012, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Monday. During the day’s Senate finance committee hearing on the DENR’s proposed budget for 2012, Sec. Ramon Paje said the UN may grant the Philippines' claim to the Benham Rise, a 13-million-hectare undersea region east of the country near Aurora province. "They (UN) intend to pass the resolution sometime in the middle of 2012 giving us this claim, approving this claim as part of the Philippine continental shelf," he said. Paje said that the Benham Rise, which is bigger than Luzon, Samar, and Leyte combined, is being claimed solely by the Philippines because it is the only country within 200 nautical miles of the plateau. "We have to go through the process pero walang conflict," he said.

Paje said that the territorial claim is relevant to the Philippines because they found mineral and gas deposits in the Benham Rise. "It contains solid methane. This is very important to us," he said, adding that there might also be oil deposits in the area. Paje added that with further exploration, there is a possibility that the country may be exporting gas in the future. "We have been saying this in the past, this country can provide for its own energy source," he said. The DENR chief said that Philippines currently has 30 million hectares of terrestrial territory and 240 million hectares of maritime territory. - KBK, GMA News