THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said it is planning to increase its presence at Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, following a recent incident involving Chinese vessels harassing Filipino fishermen in the area.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, also said the PCG is working with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to maintain continuous Philippine government presence at the shoal.
“Because of what had happened last January 12, there is an intention on the part of our commandant, Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan … to increase our presence at Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.
National Security Council assistant director general and spokesman Jonathan Malaya denounced China’s latest harassment.
“We condemn this latest provocative action on the part of the Chinese Coast Guard against our fishermen,” he said in a briefing.
He added the incident was unfortunate as government was hoping that West Philippine Sea will be “more peaceful” this year, compared to the previous year.
On January 12, a Chinese Coast Guard rubber boat with five men aboard approached Filipino fishermen gathering sea shells at the southern part of the shoal. A video of the incident was posted on social media a week after. The PCG conducted an investigation after seeing the video and gathered sworn statements from the Filipino fishermen.
“They (fishermen) were told to leave … Before they were allowed to leave the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc, they were first instructed to return the sea shells they gathered,” Tarriela said.
“To avoid commotion and putting their lives at risk, they just complied with the guidance of the Chinese Coast Guard to return the sea shells and eventually left,” he added.
Scarborough Shoal is about 124 nautical miles from Zambales. The Chinese gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels.
Filipino fishermen continue to fish at the vicinity despite the Chinese control of the shoal but they could not go inside shoal’s lagoon where there are more fish.
PCG and BFAR vessels are deployed in the area to secure the fishermen.
But Tarriela said the PCG and the BFAR cannot maintain continuous presence in the area due to lack of assets. He said the PCG and BFAR are doing “rotational deployment” in the area.
During the January 12 incident, Tarriela said, there was no PCG or BFAR vessel in the area.
“We have a very limited number of Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” he said, adding there are efforts to acquire more PCG vessels to improve the agency’s operations,
Nevertheless, Tarriela said Gavan wants the PCG to increase presence at the Bajo de Masinloc.
“The same thing with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. I think the intention of the President is very clear, that is to protect and ensure the welfare of our fishermen,” added Tarriela.
Tarriela said the PCG and BFAR are collaborating to ensure continued Philippine government presence at the shoal.
“In instances that our Coast Guard vessels will be in other areas of the West Philippine Sea patrolling, we are hoping that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources can deploy their vessels in those times that we are not there. At the same time, if BFAR will have no assets to deploy there, the Coast Guard will be there,” he said.
Tarriela said the PCG is in the process of documenting the incident. He said the result will be submitted to the National Task Force for the West Philippine. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is a member of the task, will decide if it will pursue diplomatic action against China over the incident.
Armed Forces spokeswoman Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the military has aborted a plan to bring supplies to the Philippine-held Ayungin Shoal over the weekend.
“We’re dependent on the vessels that going to be used … We identified that there was technical difficulty on the vessel that was supposed to be used for such mission,” she said.
Padilla added that one of the supply boats, Unaizah Mae 1, encountered technical difficulty.
She, however, said she has no information as to the specific technical difficulty encountered by the boat.
“Until such time that we determine that the vessel to be used is seaworthy, that’s the time we can schedule another RORE (rotation and resupply mission),” she said.
