If someone claims the Philippine (Benham) Rise, the government will declare war against the claimant, a Cabinet official said on Wednesday. “The Philippine Rise must be guarded. We will go to war if someone [not only China] will claim it, we will go to war with what we have, that’s the last resort,” National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said during the Kapihan sa Adriatico forum in Manila. The government, according to Esperon, is considering the procurement of maritime survey vessels that will cost about P2.5 billion to identify resource-rich areas in the Philippine Rise.

Sausa, R. S. (2018, March 8). Cabinet official: War awaits any claimant to Benham Rise. The Manila Times, p. A3.