FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. expressed “extreme disappointment” over Australia’s lack of support for the Philippines candidature to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) 2023-2028.

Locsin, on his official twitter account said “I am extremely disappointed Australia cannot support our candidature to the CLCS. Stuck out my neck for AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States).”

Earlier, the Philippines was the first from ASEAN to announce support for the new defense partnership between AUKUS, the tripartite nuclear-powered submarine pact aimed at maintaining balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia, in the past had been very vocal in its support for the rules-based order.

Locsin tweed “thought we were partners in upholding rules-based order in the maritime domain. Come through for us.”

Last month, Locsin introduced the Philippines candidate to the CLCS, Deputy Administrator Efren A. Carandang. He is the country’s National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).

The CLCS is a body of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) tasked to examine and make recommendations on the coastal states’ submissions for extended continental shelves.

The outer limits established through this process become the fixed boundaries between the seabed areas within national jurisdictions and the international seabed areas, which are reserved for common heritage.

Many coastal states will benefit directly from the mineral resources on the extended continental shelf, which was established by the Commission. They will benefit from their respective shares of the proceeds derived from the exploration and exploitation of resources in the international seabed area.

Being one of the coastal states, the Philippines also stands to gain from these resources. As an archipelagic state, the Philippines submitted its nomination to the CLCS for the upcoming term, 2023 to 2028, in order to make significant contributions to the increased efficiency of the Commission.

In his remarks, Carandang highlighted the successful engagement of the Philippines with the Commission when he and his team made the Benham Rise submission back in 2009 (now officially called the Philippine Rise).

“It was a very productive seven month-engagement with the Commission, wherein my team and I made oral presentations and submitted 18 written responses to the queries of CLCS members,” he said.

Locsin vouched strongly for Carandang, saying, “Efren is the Philippines’ foremost authority on the technical intricacies of the law of the sea, which is to say that he is one of the very best in the world.”

The Secretary further stressed that in addition to his technical and management expertise that would help the CLCS processes, it will be the first time for the Philippines to become a member of the Commission.

Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, stated that “the Philippine candidature to the CLCS is a demonstration of our consistent adherence to international law-based regime in maritime governance and the peaceful use of the world’s seas and oceans.”

He added that the Philippines is one of the framers and original signatories of UNCLOS, and since joining the Convention, the Philippines has demonstrated its commitment through the manner by which it conducts its maritime and ocean affairs.

Carandang has served NAMRIA and its precursor agency for 38 years. He leads two technical branches: the Hydrography Branch, and the Mapping and Geodesy Branch. He has extensive experience in hydrography and its ramifications in international maritime law. He was also part of the Philippine delegation that has successfully submitted the relevant charts/coordinates of the outer limits of the Philippines’ continental shelf with the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

The Philippines launched its candidature to the CLCS in October 2021. The elections will be held at the 32nd Conference of States Parties to UNCLOS in New York on 13-17 June 2022.