30 Chinese militia ships seen at 2 shoals
THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will deploy ships to two shoals in the West Philippine Sea in the South China to “drive away” Chinese vessels swarming in the area, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea and PCG adviser of the commandant for maritime security, said yesterday.
He did not identify the specific PCG assets which will be deployed to the Ayungin and Sabina shoals, and did not say when the deployment will be.
Tarriala’s statement came after a PCG plane conducting a maritime domain awareness flight on Tuesday observed 30 Chinese maritime militia vessels — 26 at Sabina Shoal and four at Ayungin Shoal.
“Philippine Coast Guard vessels will be deployed to drive the Chinese maritime militia away from our (200-nautical mile) exclusive economic zone,” Tarriela said.
The PCG’s Cessna 2081 also monitored a China Coast Guard vessel, with bow number 5304, anchored about a nautical away from the grounded BRP Sierra Madre where Filipino troops occupying Ayungin Shoal are staying.
Tarriela said the PCG documented the continued Chinese presence at the two shoals. He said the data will be submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs to support the government’s diplomatic protest against China.
Tarriela was referring to the protest that the government lodged in connection with an incident on February 6 when a vessel of the China Coast Guard directed a military-grade laser light at the PCG’s BRP Malapascua.
The incident caused temporary blindness of the crew members of BRP Malapascua which was merely escorting a civilian boat delivering supplies and fresh troops to Ayungin Shoal.
“This data that we have, we are going to give it to the Department of Foreign affairs to support our diplomatic protest. They (Chinese) are not yet responding to the diplomatic protest we lodged barely two weeks ago,” said Tarriela.
“It will be followed by deployment of Coast Guard vessels to drive them away outside our exclusive economic zone,” said Tarriela, referring to the Chinese maritime militia vessels.
The presence of Chinese maritime vessels in the West Philippine Sea is actually nothing new, including at the Ayungin Shoal and at Scarborough Shoal which China gained control of after a 2012 standoff with Philippine government ships.
Ayungin Shoal and eight other features in the West Philippine Sea are being claimed by China.
LEGAL OWNERSHIP
During the “Laging Handa” public briefing Tarriela said Ayungin Shoal “is within our exclusive economic zone…This is not disputed as far as the Philippine government is concerned. It’s ours.”
Tarriela the continued presence of China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia vessels at the Sabina and Ayungin shoals shows China “is ignoring our legal ownership” of the shoal.
“That’s why we (Philippine Coast Guard) always document their presence. We make sure that we have photos which the Department of Foreign Affairs to follow up on the diplomatic protest that we did last week,” he said.
Tarriela reiterated the PCG’s commitment to support President Marcos Jr’s promise that the government will not surrender a square inch of the Philippine territory to any country.
“I would like to reiterate the statement of our Philippine Coast Guard commandant, Adm.
Artemio Abu, that we support the promise of President Bongbong Marcos that we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory (to) any foreign power.”
“The Philippine Coast Guard, regardless of our limited assets, will maintain our presence in our waters, exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea and we will continue to protect the interest of Filipino fishermen,” added Tarriela.
Earlier this week, Tarriela said the PCG and the United States Coast Guard are looking at holding joint maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea, which will be separate from those being eyed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with his Filipino counterpart, Carlito Galvez.
The US defense department has said Austin and Galvez “agreed to restart joint maritime patrols” in the South China Sea to help address challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
Tarriela has also said there are initial talks of joint patrols with Japan.
