Scarborough Shoal is a small ring of reefs that lies about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines and 650 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass, the southern island province of Hainan. It is rich with marine life that fishermen from the Philippines, China and Vietnam have tapped for generations.
What are abundant in West Philippine Sea?
Scientists have discovered hundreds of fish, coral, seagrass, and other marine life in the West Philippine Sea. Its marine biodiversity is among the highest in the world. It can be a significant source of natural pharmaceuticals that are safer and more effective than those currently in use.
Why is Scarborough Shoal important to the Philippines?
Scarborough Shoal allows the Chinese not just to enforce that illegal claim but also to threaten and coerce the Philippines in its major centers of gravity. Any general or admiral in the Philippine military worth the stars on his or her shoulders should know the definition of a center of gravity.
What resources are Scarborough Shoal?
It is also thought that natural resources, including oil and gas may be present in the waters around the shoal, with the BBC stating that there could be as much as 23 billion barrels of oil and 900 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the area.
What are the issues about Scarborough Shoal?
The dispute over sovereign rights
The Philippines contends that the rocks at Scarborough Shoal fall under Article 121(3) of UNCLOS and are not entitled to EEZ or continental shelf, therefore the EEZ beyond 12 nautical miles from them belongs to Luzon Island, regardless of the question of sovereignty over them.
What is abundant here in the Philippines?
Most of the country’s metallic minerals, including gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, chromite, and copper, are drawn from major deposits on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao. Smaller deposits of silver, nickel, mercury, molybdenum, cadmium, and manganese occur in several other locations.
What is the most abundant fish in the Philippines?
Alumahan (Long-Jawed Mackerel; Rastrelliger kanagurta)
They are widely common in the Philippines and are generally found in shallow coastal waters.
Why is China claiming Scarborough Shoal?
Scarborough is the largest atoll in the South China Sea, located some 220 kilometers from the Philippines. The shoal is located inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines but is claimed by China as its ancestral territory since the 13th century.
Who claims Scarborough Shoal?
The Scarborough Shoal is claimed by the Philippines and China. On April 8, 2012, a Philippine Navy surveillance plane spotted eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in the waters of Scarborough shoal.
Why does China want Scarborough Shoal?
This gap includes the Luzon Strait, a gateway to the Pacific. Building a base at Scarborough Shoal would close this gap and truly give China the ability to exert influence over the entire South China Sea.
Does Philippines have right to Scarborough Shoal?
Following independence from the United States, the Philippines inherited title to the Scarborough Shoal.
How will you describe Scarborough Shoal?
Scarborough Shoal is a rock in the South China Sea, approximately 120 nautical miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon. There are no structures built on Scarborough Shoal, but the feature is effectively controlled by China, which has maintained a constant coast guard presence at the feature since 2012.
Is Scarborough Shoal part of the Philippine area of responsibility?
The new law classified the Kalayaan Island Group and the Scarborough Shoal as a regime of islands under the Republic of the Philippines.
Is China still on Scarborough Shoal?
China still controls access to the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, but Filipino fishermen say they have been accorded better access to the rich fishing grounds.
What is the reason why China claiming West Philippine Sea?
The conflict between China and the Philippines in the Western Philippine Sea (a.k.a. the South China Sea) is the result of years of territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands – a group of 7,500 islands and reefs that multiple countries have claimed as their own.
Does Vietnam claim Scarborough Shoal?
Vietnam claims the Hoang Sa and the Truong Sa while the Philippines claims Scarborough Shoal and the ‘Kalayaan Island Group’ which contains all of the Spratlys except for Spratly Island itself.
What is the most abundant resources in the Philippines?
1). Meanwhile, limestone is the most abundant among all non-metallic resources and reserves, with over 58.66 billion MT and 2.31 billion MT in resources and reserves, respectively.
DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph. D.
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What are examples of abundant?
abundant
- Rainfall is more abundant in summer.
- It is the most abundant bird in the forest.
- an abundant supply of food.
- He offers abundant evidence that he is right.
- a society abundant in things to buy/do.
What is the biggest environmental issue in the Philippines?
1. Air Pollution. Over the course of the year, air pollution has become particularly problematic in the Philippines.
What is the most abundant fish in the ocean?
Share. The tan bristlemouth is a small deep-sea fish that lives in the mesopelagic zone of the open ocean. Together, the bristlemouth fishes in the genus Cyclothone are considered by scientists to be the most abundant vertebrates on Earth.
What is the most abundant species of fish?
Fish. The bristlemouths, or lightfishes, are considered the most numerous fish on the planet, exceeding even the famously plentiful herring in numbers, and are also the most numerous vertebrate, period. They comprise the family Gonostomatidae, which contains over 30 species.