Chinese vessels collide at Scarborough Shoal
A Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel was damaged after it collided with a Chinese Navy vessel while they were harassing, through dangerous maneuvers, a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel yesterday in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said the collision happened at 8 a.m. after the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard vessels conducted maneuvers against the BRP Suluan and used a water cannon, which the PCG vessel successfully evaded.
“The CCG 3104, which was chasing the BRP Suluan at high speed, performed a risky maneuver from the PCG vessel’s starboard quarter, leading to the impact with the PLA Navy warship,” said Tarriela, adding: “This resulted in substantial damage to the CCG vessel’s forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy.”
A video released by the PCG showed several people on the front deck of the CCG vessel, with bow number 3104, during the collision with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ship with bow number 164.
Tarriela said it was possible that these people fell overboard or were injured due to the impact of the collision.
The PCG vessels BRP Suluan and BRP Teresa Magbanua, along with a government fish carrier MV Mamalakaya, were deployed to the shoal to distribute fuel and ice to 35 Filipino fishing vessels in the area yesterday.
In an online press briefing, Tarriela said the Chinese began tailing the PCG and the BFAR vessels at 6 a.m. Two hours later, some 10.5 nautical miles from the shoal, Tarriela said the collision occurred.
China’s coast guard said it took necessary measures to expel Philippine vessels from waters around Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, according to Reuters.
The coast guard said in a statement it monitored and intercepted the Philippine vessels after they ignored warnings and forced them away from the waters in an operation it said was “professional, standardized, legitimate and legal.”
The shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, is about 124 nautical miles from mainland Zambales. China gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine government vessels.
Tarriela said they presumed a man fell overboard while others sustained injuries due to the collision based on the video taken by the PCG personnel on board the BRP Suluan.
“The reason we assumed there is a possibility of man overboard is because there were people at the forecastle, in front of the (CCG) vessel before it was hit by the PLA Navy (ship)…. We were just anticipating. As I said, we anticipated that there were people who got injured and who went overboard,” said Tarriela.
“We’re not sure whether they were able to rescue those personnel who were in front prior to the collision. But we are hoping these personnel are in good condition if they were injured,” said Tarriela.
Tarriela said the PCG, through radio, offered to help in the rescue and provide medical assistance to the CCG personnel who might have been injured.
“They did not respond. They never responded to our radio call,” said Tarriela, adding that it was the Chinese Navy ship that came near the damaged CCG vessel after the collision to extend help.
“We can see from the video that its (CCG vessel) front portion was damaged and we believe it already has a compromised seaworthiness,” said Tarriela.
Tarriela said there is a possibility the Chinese would distort facts to blame the PCG for the incident.
He said the dangerous maneuvers, which he said are a violation of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, conducted by the Chinese led to the mishap.
Tarriela said the PCG has been asking the Chinese to cease such actions in the West Philippine Sea due to the risks they pose.
“I hope this incident will already convince the Chinese government to adhere to the collision regulation,” said Tarriela.
“We mentioned a few times already (in the past) that if we’re going to carry out dangerous maneuvers at sea, eventually it will lead to a maritime incident or sea mishap and this is what happened here,” Tarriela.
Tarriela said the PCG vessels and MV Mamalakaya were still in the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal as of yesterday noon, distributing supplies to Filipino fishermen.
“We haven’t monitored any Chinese Coast Guard (vessels) that attempted to prevent the Philippine Coast Guard from providing assistance to our fishermen,” said Tarriela.
The Department of National Defense, in a statement, said it “stands in solidarity with the Philippine Coast Guard in the face of Chinese atrocious and inane behavior in the West Philippine Sea.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said government vessels will not pull back from the shoal after the incident.
“The President has made the Philippine stand in the West Philippine Sea crystal clear,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a separate statement.
“We do not want war or seek confrontation but we must do what we need to do in order to protect our sovereignty and sovereign rights, calls of any sector to the contrary notwithstanding,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro said protecting the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights is “not aggression but simply the sacred duty of all Filipinos.”
“We do not control what external actors may think or may do but we must deter them from making choices that violate Philippine interests,” said Teodoro.
NOT BACKING OUT
The President said there would be no pullout of Philippine forces from the Scarborough Shoal/Bajo de Masinloc amid the latest incident in the area.
“We have never instructed any of our vessels to back out,” the President said in a press conference in Malacañang.
“Never, never. But we have to always, we do not back out because natakot tayo, umatras tayo (we were afraid, we backed out),” Marcos said.
He said Filipinos are brave and his administration never backs down from fights.
“I don’t know about other places, pero dito sa – dito sa gobyernong ito, hindi tayo umaatras sa laban (I don’t know about other places, but this government, we do not back down from fights),” he said.
The President said there are no special instructions to the Philippine forces amid the incident since Filipinos are already used to China’s actions.
Marcos also said the Philippines never takes aggressive actions but only responds and defends the country and its sovereign rights.
He said the country does not favor war, nor do the Philippine forces agree to war, but they would not stop defending the country until the “threat stops.”
“What will happen here is we will continue to be present. We will continue to defend our territory. We will continue to exercise our sovereign rights. And despite any opposition from anyone, we will continue to do that as we have done in the past three years,” he said.
MISUNDERSTOOD
The President reiterated that if war broke out in Taiwan, the Philippines would be drawn in “kicking and screaming.”
Marcos said he was perplexed as to why the Chinese would accuse him of playing with fire when he was merely stating facts when he said in an interview in India that there is no way that the Philippines could stay out if war broke between Taiwan and China given the proximity of the Taiwanese-governed island to the country and that there are many Filipinos there.
He added that the country needs to have contingencies because many Filipinos are in Taiwan.
“So, we’ll have to do something. So, inevitably, despite our fervent wish to avoid any confrontation with anybody anywhere, war over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict. That is what I was trying to say,” he said.
The President, meanwhile, suspects that China misinterpreted what he said, “I think, for propaganda purposes.”
China said geographical proximity and the large overseas population should not be an excuse for a country to interfere with the internal affairs of other nations.
It added that the Philippines should adhere to the one-China principle.
CHINESE PRESENCE
The Philippine Navy spotted “multiple” Chinese Navy and Coast Guard vessels, which were subsequently told to leave the Philippine territory, off Batanes last week.
In a statement, the Northern Luzon Naval Command (NLNC) said the “unauthorized presence” of the vessels was monitored Thursday and Friday last week.
The NLNC said there were multiple Chinese Navy and Coast Guard vessels that were detected but did not give a specific number.
It said the Chinese vessels were detected during sovereignty and maritime patrol operations conducted by patrol vessels BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Emilio Jacinto, both assigned to the Naval Task Force 11 under the NLNC.
“Upon detection, the Philippine Navy warships promptly initiated radio challenge protocols,” the NLNC said in a statement.
The NLNC released a video showing BRP Emilio Jacinto telling two Chinese Coast Guard vessels, with bow numbers 3301 and 3304, that they were “approaching the Philippine contiguous zone, you are advised to leave immediately.”
Following the Navy ship’s “continuous monitoring and the assertive presence,” the NLNC said the Chinese vessels “were observed to have altered their courses.”
The NLNC said it “strongly condemns” the unauthorized presence of the Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Philippine Navy, remains steadfast in its commitment to safeguarding our nation’s sovereignty,” said NLNC commander Commodore Edward Ike De Sagon.
“These ongoing patrols in the northern maritime domain reaffirm our dedication to protecting our sovereign rights and enforcing maritime law with vigilance and resolve,” added De Sagon.
AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS
Senate Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada called out the Chinese Coast Guard and said it should stop its dangerous maneuvers against the PCG.
Estrada issued the statement after the collision between the CCG vessel and the PLA Navy ship.
The collision, Estrada said, highlighted the dangers posed by the dangerous moves by Chinese ships in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“This is a classic case of reaping what one sows. The Chinese Coast Guard must cease and desist from engaging in dangerous maneuvers against our Philippine Coast Guard and other maritime vessels. These tactics not only endanger our maritime personnel and fisherfolk — they also escalate tensions unnecessarily. Nothing good will come of such actions, except the empty display of logistical superiority,” Estrada said.
Estrada said the Philippines will not be cowed by China’s aggressive actions.
“We will continue to defend our sovereignty, protect our people, and uphold the rule of law,” he added.
He also commended the professionalism and magnanimous act of PCG personnel, who offered assistance and medical aid to the injured Chinese crew members, even in the face of the “continuing reckless aggression by the China Coast Guard and the People’s Liberation Army.”
“Nagawa pa nilang mag-alok ng tulong matapos na makaranas muli sila ng pag-water cannon (They even offered help even if they experienced being water cannoned),” Estrada added, referring to the CCG vessel firing water cannon at PCG vessels in the area.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said the incident in Bajo de Masinloc shows the peril Filipino troops face in asserting the country’s rightful jurisdiction over its waters.
“We’re grateful that despite the harassment, our Coast Guard personnel are safe and able to continue their duty of patrolling our territorial waters,” Villanueva added.
He also reiterated his call on China to pull out its vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
“Your continued presence and operation at the West Philippine Sea is illegal and unauthorized. The West Philippine Sea is ours. Get out of Philippine waters,” Villanueva added.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the incident highlighted the need for China to remove its vessels from the area.
“China should stop this violence. This proves that Beijing’s own actions are reckless and endanger their own people. I hope they take this incident as a lesson.
Hontiveros also paid tribute to the skills and professionalism of the PCG, who offered assistance to their Chinese counterpart despite them being at the receiving end of Chinese harassment in the area.
She also called on the Marcos administration to continue supporting Filipino fishermen to the fullest extent possible and give them continued access to their traditional fishing areas in the Bajo de Masinloc.
“It is also crucial that we maintain a year-round maritime law enforcement presence to safeguard our fisherfolk,” she added.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by Manila as the West Philippine Sea, as well as those of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
In 2016, the Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected China’s sweeping claim in the disputed water under its so-called nine-dash line, saying it has no legal or historical basis, but Beijing refused to abide by the arbitral ruling. – With Jocelyn Reyes, Ashzel Hachero, and Reuters
