Benham Rise could be the key to securing the country’s food security and the Philippines should build a research facility on its shallowest portion to assert its ownership of the resource-rich 13-million-hectare undersea region that is part of the country’s continental shelf, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Monday. Piñol said that the Agriculture department would also recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the conversion of the country’s newest territory into a protected food supply zone. The facility, which will serve as a research base for Filipino scientists and aqua-marine researchers and a monitoring station against illegal fishermen and poachers, could also serve as a refuge for Filipino fishermen and a docking station for government vessels on patrol.

Benceto, J. P., & Gonzales A. L. (2017, May 9). Benham eyed as ‘food zone’. Manila Standard, pp. A1, A2.