RP to submit limits of extended continental shelf off Bicol by May 2009

The Philippines hopes to be able to submit to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) the limits of the extended continental shelf in the Benham Rise area off the Bicol Region in the Pacific Ocean before the May 2009 deadline.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippines could fully exercise the right of sovereignty to explore and exploit the natural resources in the area if the CLCS favorably accepts the Philippine submission.

In September, the Philippine Technical Working Group on the Extended Continental Shelf, headed by Justice Undersecretary Jose Vincent Salazar met the Mexican “PLACA Group” (Continental Shelf Group) led by Ambassador Joel Hernandez, Legal Consultant of the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and representatives from the Mexican Department of Energy, Navy, National Institute of Geography, Statistics and Information, and the national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Mexico. – Pia Lee-Brago