NATIONAL Security Adviser Eduardo Año yesterday said Chinese aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, which he called “challenges,” are unlikely to decrease in the near future.
Año, a former Armed Forces chief, said there is “rising tension” in the area brought about by China’s “baseless, excessive and expansive claims” and militarization.
“The Philippines recognizes the challenges in the South China Sea are unlikely to diminish anytime soon,” he said at an online forum organized by the Stratbase ADR Institute.
“The situation becomes even more complex due to potential flashpoints in the area, which continue to evolve amid rising geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions and shifting global security dynamics,” he also said.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recognized the role of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in protecting the country’s territory and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
At the oath-taking ceremony for 29 newly promoted PCG officers in Malacañang, Marcos recognized the agency’s achievements in terms of maritime law enforcement, including the conduct of 2.72 million inspections, 44,777 seaborne missions, and patrolling more than 3.1 million square nautical miles from January 2024 to March 2025.
“These figures are proof that the PCG remains a trusted guardian of peace and justice at sea. But perhaps, nowhere is your presence more crucial, than in the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said.
PERMANENT FIXTURES
Año, at the forum, said China has been engaged in “aggressive actions” in the WPS, including at the Scarborough Shoal, in the past years, disregarding the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea.
He said Chinese fishing vessels, and even ships from the Chinese Coast Guard and the Chinese Navy, “have become permanent fixtures in the area with their swarming and unlawful presence and activities.”
Año said China has resorted to “bolder moves” like dangerous maneuvers, laser-pointing, flare-firing, water cannoning, dispersing and driving away our fisherfolks, and unauthorized marine scientific research and hydrographic surveys.
He also noted China’s “unprecedented island-building and reclaiming of unoccupied features,” apparently referring to a small-scale land reclamation at Escoda Shoal last year.
“The list of illegal activities goes on and, indeed, this is a reality we cannot ignore,” Año said, adding that these activities infringe on Philippine legal rights and entitlements and endanger lives and livelihoods of Filipinos.
COORDINATED STRATEGIES
Año said the government has taken steps in response to China’s “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive tactics.”
He said Philippines has anchored its strategies in the WPS on preservation of territorial integrity, protection of economic interests, and the promotion of regional stability, which are all embodied in the National Security Policy 2023 to 2028.
Año said government agencies have also responded to the president’s call for a South China Sea that “springs peace, stability and prosperity.”
“We have ensured that our strategies for protecting and advancing our national interests are well-coordinated and synergized, maximizing all instruments of national power and mixing the right combinations of initiatives to counter these illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive actions,” said Año.
He also said they are also addressing some gaps by crafting a long-term policy for the West Philippine Sea, among others.
Año said “robust, credible and self-reliant defense system is on top of our priorities to meet any challenge to our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdictions.”
He said government has bolstered the country’s defense capability “with calculated diplomacy, through leveraging strategic partnerships and alliances to regain effective access to maritime areas in the WPS.”
INCREASED ACTIVITIES
American maritime expert Ray Powell, in the same forum, said China has increased its activities at Scarborough Shoal in the past 12 months.
The shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal, is about 124 nautical miles from Zambales. China gained control of Scarborough in 2012 and has since prevented Filipinos from fishing in the shoal’s lagoon.
“China has really doubled down on its strategy to take control of Scarborough Shoal … to sort of enforce its claim to own or to be sovereign over Scarborough Shoal,” said Powell.
Powell, in an article posted on the website of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project which he founded, said they tracked 57 Chinese Coast Guard and militia ships from May 2023 to April 2024.
“Over the following 12 months, by contrast, we see the area of intense activity expanded dramatically, with 78 ships and 1,573,000 AIS (automatic identification system) broadcasts — or more than double the total signals broadcast over the previous period,” he said.
Powell said AIS data showed seven vessels of the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels at the shoal from May 2023 to April 2024, producing 55,000 AIS broadcasts.
“As China increased its patrols over the following year, so did the Philippines. We observed 11 different ships producing 217,000 AIS broadcasts — a nearly fourfold increase — in that period,” he said.
“Despite this, the Philippine government vessels’ ability to reach the shoal itself appears to be over, at least for now,” added Powell.
CHINA’S GAME PLAN
Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal, in the same forum, said China’s increased activities at the shoal is part of China’s “larger game plan.”
“It’s basically part of their attempt to establish control over the entire South China Sea within the nine-dash line,” he said, referring to China’s nine-dash line claim which is now actually 10-dash line.
Batongbacal said China is exercising control of the shoal “to prevent us from seeing what they’re doing in Scarborough.”
Citing information from Filipino fishermen, Batongbacal said the Chinese are destroying the ecosystem of Scarborough Shoal.
“It has been devastated. They’ve taken out all the giant clams and they’ve moved on to other species. They’re turning the shoal into rubble basically,” he said.
RECLAMATION
Batongbacal said the Chinese destroyed the ecosystem of other features in the WPS before conducting land reclamation.
“They did exactly the same thing to justify their reclamation of the various reefs … This could be that as well. They’re laying the basis for future reclamation,” he said.
“If they succeed in their plans and say, in the future, convert Scarborough Shoal into another military base like Fiery Cross and Subi and Mischief, that would not only cement their illegal control, but it would also have serious implications for the rest of the region and the world,” said Batongbacal.
National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said the council is aware that the Chinese presence at Scarborough has negatively affected the shoal’s environment but “I don’t exactly know if they’re (Chinese) turning it into rubble.”
“What keeps us awake at night of course is the prospect of China, since they have presence in the area, turning the shoal into an artificial island or militarizing it,” he said.
It will be “very troubling” if the Chinese conduct land reclamation at Scarborough Shoal, he said.
“If I may state what the president has said repeatedly, we will not allow any inch of our territory be taken away from us. We will not lose a single inch of our territory,” said Malaya.
Malaya said he is hoping China will adhere to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea which, among others, includes a commitment for claimants to refrain from inhabiting uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features in the in the South China Sea.
“It is our hope that they will not go that far because reading what the president has said, that would be a red line for the Philippines,” Malaya said.
PCG’S JOB
Marcos, at the oath-taking rites, said the PCG handled over 2,000 incidents and rescued nearly 4,500 individuals in responding to maritime incidents. This includes the PCG’s involvement in handling of the MT Terra Nova oil spill in Limay, Bataan, which he said was a defining moment for the service.
The 29 newly promoted officers are two vice admirals, eight rear admirals, and 19 commodores, all promoted in 2024 and this year.
Among them are PCG Deputy Commandant for Operations Vice Adm. Edgar Ybañez and Vice Admiral Charlie Rances, commander of the Coast Guard Education, Training and Doctrine Command.
Marcos said the PCG’s continued patrols across the Kalayaan Island Group, the Philippine Rise, and other maritime zones reaffirm its unwavering commitment to protecting the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
“What you are doing is not only protecting territory. What you are doing is not only protecting citizens. You are defining for the rest of the world the territory of the Republic of the Philippines. And having done so, you are defending that territory. That is the importance of what the job has become for Philippine Coast Guard,” the President said.
Marcos added that the PCG’s missions are “declarations: we will always stand for what is ours, and we will do so with dignity, with integrity, [and] with strength.”
The President said the country would continue to depend on the PCG, along with the Philippine Navy and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, at this time of global instability and rising maritime tensions.
“We look to you to stand the ground in stormy seas and never waver in what is right,” Marcos said.
He said that to help the coast guard in its mission, his administration supports the PCG’s bid to boost its capabilities through advanced vessels, technologies, and support systems that reflect the scale and urgency of its work.
He also reiterated his commitment to support the PCG personnel and their families, saying that in addition to the Comprehensive Social Benefits Program, he signed Republic Act 12177 or the Free Legal Assistance for Military and Uniformed Personnel Act last month, which benefits personnel who face civil, criminal, or administrative cases arising from the performance of their duties. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
