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.