FOUR Chinese vessels harassed in two separate days a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel patrolling and distributing supplies to Filipino fishermen at the contested Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported yesterday.
The PCG said the harassment started on the morning of February 15 when a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel, with bow number 3105, conducted blocking maneuvers against BFAR’s multi-mission offshore vessel BRP Datu Sanday about 1.3 nautical miles south of the shoal.
On February 22 at around 10:18 a.m., the PCG said the same CCG vessel, accompanied by Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMVs) with bow numbers 00107 and 00309, again corralled BRP Datu Sanday about 1.2 nautical miles south of Scarborough.
On the same day at 10:39 a.m., CCMV 00107 again conducted dangerous maneuvers against BRP Datu Sanday, with the nearest distance of 100 meters, at about 1.5 nautical miles south of the Scarborough Shoal.
Likewise, on February 22 at 10:48 a.m., another Chinese fishing vessel, with bow number 3168, believed to be a CMMV, conducted dangerous maneuvers against the BFAR vessel with a nearest distance of 50 meters about .7 nautical miles southwest of the shoal.
“However, despite these maneuvers, the skipper of BRP Datu Sanday exhibited excellent seamanship skills and managed to evade the blocking attempts,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.
The PCG said CCG 3105 also issued 28 radio challenges against BRP Datu Sanday, while one of the three other Chinese Navy ships monitored in the are likewise made a radio challenge.
The PCG said a Chinese Navy helicopter also conducted aerial surveys, while two CCG rubber hull inflatable boats were seen laying buoy barriers at the shoal.
This is not the first time Chinese vessels harassed government vessels at the shoal, which is about 124 nautical miles from Masinloc, Zambales.
Prior to the latest harassments, China also subjected to dangerous maneuvers another PCG vessel, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, on four occasions while it was patrolling the shoal from January 1 to 9.
China gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine vessels. Since then, Chinese vessels have been preventing Filipino fishermen from fishing inside the shoal’s lagoon.
PH PRESENCE
Meanwhile, Tarriela disputed the claim of international research network South China Sea Probing Initiative that the presence of Filipino fishermen at the shoal was meant to challenge China’s control of the area.
“Their presence in that area is primarily driven by their need to secure a livelihood and provide sustenance for their families, and not to provoke anyone,” said on his X (former Twitter) account.
The group earlier said the presence of fishing boats at the shoal last February 22 was “an organized provocative behavior, and has nothing to do with the livelihood of fishermen, just aiming to challenge the status quo of Chinese control.”
The group, on its X account, also posted pictures of the Filipino fishing boats at the vicinity of the shoal.
Tarriela said: “These Filipino fishing boats are waiting in line to receive fuel subsidies from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources boat, BRP Datu Sanday.”
“We are not like China that uses fishing vessels as part of its gray zone tactics to alter the status quo in the West Philippine Sea. Filipino fishermen have been fishing in these waters for generations, long before the establishment of the Chinese Coast Guard,” he added.
