These were some of the news last January 22-24, 2018.
So President Duterte would keep his kow-tow humiliation to China?
Last January 24, these are just two of the many news reports on the subject.
This irked Prof. Jay Batongbacal of UP College of Law and a friend from UP Sapul student org. So last January 24, Jay posted this in his fb wall, it was shared by 8,000+ people.
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So President Duterte would keep his kow-tow humiliation to China?
Last January 24, these are just two of the many news reports on the subject.
This irked Prof. Jay Batongbacal of UP College of Law and a friend from UP Sapul student org. So last January 24, Jay posted this in his fb wall, it was shared by 8,000+ people.
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by Jay Batongbacal
January 24, 2017.
[Fair warning: for the first time, i am about to really
rant about something]
I was going to write on this MSR brouhaha again and try
to do something that could actually help this government clarify some things
they just don't get, but then I am outraged by a huge hollow-block thrown
against the entire FIlipino nation.
Pres sPox Roque's claim that Filipinos cannot afford to
explore Benham Rise, that "no one can do it", that the Philippines
"needs China" to do it, and "only China qualifies" is
completely wrong, based on ignorance, a serious disservice to Filipino
scientists in particular and the Filipino people in general, and an
over-exaggeration of China's potential role in Philippine ocean sciences.
In the first place, FIlipinos have been exploring the
Benham Rise Region for years now:
1) From 2004-2008, then again in 2010, the DENR's
National Mapping and Resource Information Authority sent BRP Hydrographer
Presbitero on multiple bathymetric and hydrographic surveys of the Benham Rise
Region, producing a highly detailed 3D digital bathymetric model (resolution of
1 meter for an area covering 30 million hectares) of the entire region
compliant with the highest quality standards of the International Hydrographic
Organization. That was a Philippine vessel with full Filipino crew (mariners of
the Coast and Geodetic Survey Division) funded completely by the Philippine
government. That batheymetric model was absolutely necessary for the
Philippines to support its claim to the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical
miles with 2D and 3D geomorphological analysis.
2) For the past decade, the DA's Bureau of FIsheries and
Aquatic Resources has been annually conducting fisheries research and
experimental fishing expeditions in the Benham Rise Region, particularly in
areas between the coast of Luzon and Benham Bank, to determine the tuna fishery
potential of its waters. This has been undertaken by the M/V DA-BFAR
multi-mission research vessel for so long, that BFAR has confidence in
promoting and opening the region as the country's new tuna fishing ground.
3) Two oceanographic research cruises have been
organized, funded by the DOST, supported by DA-BFAR, and with the participation
of the University of the Philippines, De la Salle University, Silliman
University, and other academic institutions (apologies as I forget), which gave
the Philippines its initial glimpse of Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of
Benham Rise. These were done in 2014 and 2016. A third cruise is being planned
for this summer 2018 (fingers crossed). All are crewed by Filipino scientists,
marine science students, Navy and Coast Guard technical divers, and mariners.
Supplementary support/assistance so far was provided by Oceana, a
non-government organization advocating marine resources conservation, in the
form only of a remotely-operated vehicle unit and technicians to control it,
and additional scientists and technical divers to augment the 2nd expedition's
personnel. Both previous expeditions were Philippine-funded, the same goes for
the planned third cruise. The first people to actually descend and
"touch" Benham Bank 50m below the Pacific, were Filipino technical
divers. That's our "Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon"
historical moment.
4) Since 2016, the UP National Institute for Geological
Sciences and UP Marine Science Institute have been collaborating with counterpart
institutions from Korea and Japan, namely the Korea Institute for Ocean Science
and Technology, and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology,
to begin initial exploration of the seabed in Benham Rise itself under separate
memoranda of agreements. As I understand it, among other things, the
Philippines intends to get seabed core samples through this arrangement, which
push forward the resource assessment and exploration efforts for the Rise.
5) Geologists of the UP NIGS have acquired and reviewed
available public domain data from multiple scientific research cruises by
multiple nations that have passed through the Benham Rise Region, and produced
academic papers and analysis of their own, which were used as evidence to
support the claim to Benham Rise. The detailed tectonic history, geological
characteristics, and underwater topography have been determined and analyzed by
these Filipino scientists, and their findings tested and and papers validated
by foreign scientific advisors as well as the scientific community through the
continental shelf claim process and the academic press.
6) Marine biologists of UP MSI, UP SESAM, and other
schools have been analyzing the many samples and observations that they
gathered from the two research cruises, and making some interesting findings
and potential discoveries on their own. These are Filipino researchers, earning
salaries and wages from Philippine sources, and working in accordance with
stringent scientific standards and procedures on par with anyone else in the
world.
7) In addition to the small research vessels of UP, DENR
and DA-BFAR, the Philippines now has a deep-sea research vessel in the form of
the BRP Gregorio Velasquez that was handed over to the Philippine Navy by the
US. This ship used to be the USS Melville, carrying a crew of 23 plus up to 38
marine scientists on board, and was formerly operated by the Scripps Institute
of Oceanography. It played a key role in US oceanography for over 45 years, and
is still going strong. The PN, in collaboration with marine science
institutions, is developing its own capacity to operate and maximize the use of
this venerable vessel for hydrography and marine science. Last summer, the PN
and UP-MSI took the ship "around the block" conducting a running MSR
data-collecting cruise spanning the waters of Mindoro, KIG, Southern Palawan,
the Sulu Sea and Tubbataha Reef. Even the PN, with multi-purpose ships like the
BRP Davao del Sur, has demonstrated that it can operate in the area, and with
appropriate crew and equipment, can host all manner of research activities in
addition to military purposes.
8) By the way, the Philippines has yet to explore the
possibilities of using new technologies that are becoming fast accessible and
affordable. Technologies and techniques for manufacturing floating and
underwater autonomous vehicles (sometimes called "gliders" or
"drones") guided by artificial intelligence, each unit costing around
USD100,000 each, have been offered for free to the Philippines by at least one
friendly country, not China. This could mark a new era in indigenous marine
resource exploration in the near future. Other countries are already using
these gliders to conduct oceanographic researches in the deep ocean at a
fraction of what they used to cost. A small squadron of AI-guided gliders could
quickly conduct deep seabed exploration in the deep oceans at much less expense
than even current levels. And I have no doubt that the Philippines can do it as
well.
FOR GOVT TO SAY THAT FILIPINOS NEED CHINA TO EXPLORE
BENHAM RISE AS IF THERE IS NO ONE ELSE THAT CAN DO IT IS BOTH A BRAZEN
FALSEHOOD AND A DISSERVICE TO THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATION, THE TALENTS AND
CAPACITIES, OF THE FILIPINO SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, a number of whom I have
worked with and call my colleagues and friends. I have had the privilege of
working on international legal claims with these talented people, through the
Tubbataha Reef Particularly Sensitive Sea Area Application before the
International Maritime Organization, and the Extended Continental Shelf Project
which generated TWO claim documents (one for Benham Rise Region, successfully
submitted and validated, and another for the Western Palawan Region which up to
now has been sitting on somebody's desk, but that's another story entirely) for
the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
Although China is indeed a formidable scientific force in
the contemporary ocean sciences, IT IS BY NO MEANS THE ONLY ONE. To date, even
without China, the Philippines has been able to assemble its own modest
scientific expeditions, and continues to develop its capacities and
capabilities to do so, both on its own and with willing partners. CHINA IS AN
OBVIOUS OPPORTUNITY, BUT NOT AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. To imply that only China
can give the Philippines any hope in exploring and exploiting Benham Rise is a
twisted and gross exaggeration of its potential role in cooperation with the
Philippine marine science community. While the possible benefits from
cooperation with China should be recognized, we should not be fixated with it.
THE LIMITATIONS UPON PHILIPPINE MARINE SCIENCE CAPACITIES
AND CAPABILITIES IS NOT SO MUCH A MATTER OF POVERTY AS IT IS A MATTER OF
PRIORITIES. The modest efforts to date demonstrate that with the proper
budgetary support from government and clear research goals and objectives, as
well as a good vision and great confidence in our own people and expertise, the
Philippines CAN do these things on its own. It may take longer, and may be more
difficult, BUT WE HAVE SHOWN THAT WE CAN DO IT. We may have relatively few
marine scientists and even fewer marine science vessels, but they have done a
lot despite limited resources. What more if government actually gave the sector
the attention and respect it deserves?
THIS GOVT'S DENIGRATION OF FILIPINO SCIENTISTS AND
FILIPINOS IN GENERAL, CLAIMING THEY CANNOT EXPLORE BENHAM RISE WITHOUT CHINA OR
CHINESE MONEY, IS A TOTAL SHAM MEANT TO DISEMPOWER AND DEMEAN FILIPINOS AND
THEIR CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY AS A PEOPLE. IT MAKES FILIPINOS APPEAR HELPLESS,
CLUELESS AND PENNILESS ON SOMETHING ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THEY ARE NOT. WE ARE
NOT A NATION OF BEGGARS FOR SMALL CHANGE, EVEN THAT COMING FROM A COUNTRY AS
BIG AND RICH AS CHINA.
[...but then again, maybe that's what gov't means by
"change is coming."]
See also:
BWorld 99, China insecurity and belligerence, December 30, 2016
China Watch 22, On many rich Chinese leaving their country, January 17, 2016
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