Extending RP's Territory: Benham Rise is Ours!

In the midst of China's territorial pissing over at Scarborough Shoal, our claim to Benham Rise, a 13-million hectare area off the coast of Aurora, my father's hometown. The United Nation Commission on the Limits of Continental Shelf has approved our claim to ownership recently.

We get some, we lose some and this newly-acquired area is much bigger than the size of Luzon which is only 10.5 hectares and is a possible source of minerals and natural gas.

There's Continental Drift, Continental Breakfast and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, all of which are not new to us. But what is a Continental Shelf?

Well there are so many websites to give us scholarly and practical answers to our question so I better share them here:

• Continental Shelf @ Wikipedia
• Office of Naval Research: Continental Margin and Rise
• UNEP Shelf Programme 
• Anna Cavnar: Deciding Who Owns the Ocean Floor
• PHL's Claim to Benham Rise

Me and my family is scheduled to visit Casiguran and Dinalungan via Baler this year. All of which are towns in the Province of Aurora. Will we be able to island-hop and see for ourselves this new Philippine territory? Or this will just be one of those "Philippine treasures" that lived the life of a white elephant? Will the Philippine Government be putting in the necessary program and implement it for the good of our country?

What will it be?

Please read the PDF called PHL's Claim to Benham Rise and get to know more of your new territory, Filipinos should know.

Thanks to Rappler.com for the story!