MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will visit Benham Rise next week.
“The President will be commemorating the renaming of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise by visiting the Philippine Rise itself,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing Tuesday.
Duterte’s visit was scheduled from May 15 to 16.
The visit will also mark the “launch of scientific research to be conducted by around 50 scientists,” Roque said.
Fifty scientists whom the President will send off are attending.
In May 2017 Duterte signed Executive Order 25 officially renaming Benham Rise to Philippine Rise.
“In the exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction, the Philippines has the power to designate its submarine areas with appropriate nomenclature for purpose of the national mapping system,” the order stated./PN