The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs filed a claim with the UN on Friday to formally recognize the boundaries of its underwater continental shelf in the South China Sea, granting it exclusive rights to utilize the area’s resources. The claim, filed with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, follows more than 15 years of scientific research on the scope of its undersea shelf off the western coast of Palawan province.
The resource-rich undersea area for which the Philippines is seeking formal recognition of its sovereign rights under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) includes the Spratlys—a chain of islands, islets, reefs, and atolls contested by several nations, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Under Article 76 of UNCLOS, a coastal state may have exclusive rights to exploit resources on its continental shelf, which can extend up to 350 nautical miles (648 kilometers). This permits regulatory control over drilling activities, among other rights.
In a press release, Philippine Foreign Assistant Secretary Marshall Louis Alferez emphasized the economic potential of the seabed and subsoil resources that extend from the Philippine archipelago. “Incidents in the waters tend to overshadow the importance of what lies beneath… The seabed and the subsoil extending from our archipelago up to the maximum extent allowed by UNCLOS hold significant potential resources that will benefit our nation and our people for generations to come,” Alferez stated.
The filing follows closely after the Armed Forces of the Philippines declared their readiness to protect Filipino fishermen from China’s “anti-trespassing policy,” which allows the detainment of foreign ships and crews without trial for up to 60 days in waters claimed by China. China has yet to respond to the recent filing.
This area has seen significant legal and geopolitical contention, prompting the Philippines to seek international arbitration against China in 2013. The Permanent Court of Arbitration dismissed China’s expansive claims in 2016, a ruling that Beijing did not accept, and continues to disregard to this day.
This filing marks the second time the Philippines has submitted a claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The first claim was in 2009 for the Benham Rise, now known as the Philippine Rise, which the Commission officially recognized in 2012. In the 2009 submission, the Philippines noted its intention to reserve the right to future claims for additional areas.