Sen. Edgardo Angara believes the proposed Aurora Pacific Ecozone and Freeport Authority (Apeco) has taken on a regional strategic value following China’s recent announcement of new rules banning foreign vessels from waters it considers its territory in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara has expressed support for the government’s plan of looking into opportunities from the Benham Rise which the United Nations has recently declared as part of Philippine territory.
Benham Rise belongs to the Philippines. The United Nations has approved the Philippines’ territorial claim to Benham Rise, an undersea landmass in the Pacific Ocean potentially rich in mineral and natural gas deposits, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.
The Philippines will gain 13 million hectares in additional territory, an area slightly smaller than Luzon, should the United Nations approve next year the government’s claim on a region off the coast of Isabela and Aurora, Environment Secretary Ramon Jesus Paje said on Monday. Paje said the undersea region, called Benham Rise, could turn the [...]
